.2-3 

Z-oo 


THE  STORY  OF 
JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 


THE    STORY 


OF 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 


AUGUSTUS   FIELD   BEARD 


THE     PILGRIM     PRESS 

BOSTON     NEW  YORK     CHICAGO 


•• 


COPYRIGHT,  1909 
BY  AUGUSTUS  F.  BEARD 


•  • 

•  • 

•  • 


THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS,  CAMBRIDGE,  U.S. A. 


PREFACE 

THE  story  of  JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN, 
written  in  French,  was  published  in 
Strasburg  in  1831,  five  years  after  his 
'death.  The  author,  D.  E.  Stoeber,  a  lawyer,  a 
friend  of  Oberlin,  was  in  his  youth  a  student 
under  his  instruction  and  for  several  years  a 
member  of  his  household.  In  the  preparation  of 
his  biography  he  had  the  assistance  of  Madame 
Rauscher,  Oberlin's  daughter,  whose  husband  had 
succeeded  Oberlin  in  his  pastorate,  with  full  ac- 
cess to  his  complete  and  careful  diary  of  more 
than  sixty  years,  and  whatever  writings  were 
left  by  Oberlin.  In  his  preface  he  says :  "  I  am 
going  to  relate  his  life  with  sincerity  and  truth. 
The  family  of  Oberlin,  to  which  I  have  been 
bound  by  fraternal  friendship  for  nearly  forty 
years,  has  been  kind  enough  to  confide  numerous 
manuscripts  of  the  illustrious  deceased  to  me; 
other  friends  have  furnished  me  notes ;  my  own 
remembrances  have  done  the  rest." 


M188S83 


PREFACE 

The  result  was  an  exhaustive  compilation  of 
facts  which  are  well-nigh  unreadable  in  form. 
A  limited  edition,  intended  for  the  parishes  of 
Oberlin  and  the  Alsatians  who  were  then  ac- 
quainted with  his  work  in  their  mountain  coun- 
try, was  sold  by  subscription.  It  soon  passed  out 
of  print;  few  copies  are  now  in  existence. 

Some  minor  biographies  gleaned  from  this 
work  were  published  in  Germany,  France,  and 
England  at  about  the  same  period,  rather  in  the 
style  of  memoirs  than  in  balanced  biographies. 
None,  I  think,  was  given  in  what  seems  to  me 
the  necessary  historical  setting.  These  also  have 
gone  the  way  of  this  kind  of  literature  for  more 
than  half  a  century. 

The  perusal  of  Stoeber's  Life  of  Oberlin,  a 
copy  of  which  I  obtained  in  France,  perhaps  the 
only  one  in  this  country,  led  me  to  visit  the  scene 
of  his  labors.  It  was  in  the  summer  of  1886 
that  I  made  my  first  study  of  the  little  village  of 
Waldersbach  in  the  mountains  of  the  Vosges. 
Less  than  a  hundred  houses  comprise  it,  promi- 
nent among  which  is  the  manse  which  Oberlin 
built  and  in  which  he  lived.  It  was  occupied  at 
the  time  by  the  pastor  whose  accomplished  wife 
is  the  granddaughter  of  Oberlin.  Sixty  years 
had  then  passed  since  Oberlin's  death,  but  the 

vi 


PREFACE 

house  remained  almost  entirely  as  he  left  it. 
His  library  was  there,  his  manuscripts  which 
were  accessible,  and  much  of  his  furniture  as 
aforetime.  The  church  near  by  was  without 
change  in  appearance  since  he  preached  in  it  his 
last  sermon. 

Sixteen  years  afterwards  it  was  my  privilege 
to  repeat  this  visit,  taking  abundant  time  of  sev- 
eral weeks  to  acquaint  myself  with  the  country 
and  its  local  history,  to  tramp  over  its  steeps  and 
study  its  people,  to  trace  if  possible  in  the  con- 
ditions of  the  present  somewhat  more  of  the 
secret  of  this  notable  life  hidden  away  in  the 
hills  among  a  neglected  peasantry,  the  grace  of 
which  now  nearly  fourscore  years  after  his  death 
has  not  lost  its  charm. 

I  find  it  quite  impossible  to  designate  my 
indebtedness  for  what  I  have  gleaned  here  and 
there,  especially  among  the  descendants  of  Ober- 
lin's  former  parishioners  and  in  my  personal 
visits  and  interviews  with  the  descendants  of  his 
family. 

The  Vie  de  J.  F.  Oberlin,  Pasteur  au  Ban-de- 
la-Roche,  par  D.  E.  Stoeber,  is  the  established 
authority  for  the  facts  of  Oberlin's  life  and  work 
which  I  have  undertaken  to  retell.  Le  Ban-de- 
la-Roche,  Notes  Historiques  et  Souvenirs  par 

vii 


PREFACE 

Mme.  Ernest  Roerich,  has  placed  me  under  ob- 
ligations in  the  way  of  local  history. 

It  has  seemed  to  me  that  a  life  so  remarkably 
prophetic  in  its  anticipations  of  many  modern 
educational  theories  and  methods,  so  entirely  in 
advance  of  its  day  in  the  apprehension  of  the 
brotherhood  of  man  and  in  ,the  largeness  of 
Christian  fraternity  and  in  his  theories  of  social 
betterment  and  service,  so  unique  and  heroic  in 
Christian  consecration,  with  its  lessons  and  in- 
spirations for  an  age  in  which  the  temptations 
are  great  to  unduly  exalt  the  material,  should 
be  recalled  and  remembered.  As  a  study  of  sym- 
pathy with  people  in  low  conditions  and  of  faith 
in  their  possibilities  through  the  application  of 
Christian  truth  exampled  in  a  great  life,  the  story 
of  Oberlin  must  be  significant. 

The  fact,  moreover,  that  a  great  institution 
of  learning  like  Oberlin  College  bears  and  honors 
his  name  with  the  rich  inheritance  of  his  spirit, 
should  add  interest  to  the  history  of  this  remark- 
able man. 


vin 


INTRODUCTION 


I   AM  very  glad   to  respond  to  Dr.  Beard's 
request  to  add  a  word  of  introduction  to  his 
life  of  Oberlin.     As  president  of  the  college 
that  is  proud  to  bear  Oberlin's  name  and  counts 
that  name  one  of  the  richest  parts  of  its  inherit- 
ance, it  is  perhaps  not  unnatural  that  I  should 
be  asked  to  speak  this  introductory  word ;  and  I 
do  this  all  the  more  gladly  because  I  have  myself 
read  the  manuscript  with  great  interest. 

But,  quite  aside  from  these  personal  connections, 
it  is  a  pleasure  to  speak  any  word  that  may  help  at 
all  to  bring  to  others  acquaintance  with  the  great 
soul  here  portrayed;  for  I  am  convinced  that 
few  lives  deserve  so  well  to  be  kept  before  the 
attention  of  men  as  the  life  of  Oberlin.  Just 
because  Oberlin  was,  to  use  Dr.  Beard's  own 
words,  "a  unique  figure  in  missionary  consecra- 
tion and  service,  a  great  man  who  lived  a  great 
life  in  isolation,  who  yet  made  himself  felt  beyond 
the  boundaries  of  France,  an  educational  and 
theological  prophet,  anticipating  much  modern 
thought  in  both  directions,"  the  record  of  his  life 
cannot  fail  to  be  full  of  suggestion  along  many 

ix 


INTRODUCTION 

lines.  It  contains  inspiration  to  good  citizen- 
ship, to  high  public  service,  to  truer  living,  to 
better  teaching,  to  more  devoted  ministry. 

Just  as  I  have  hoped  that  I  might  believe  that 
the  college  named  after  this  man  has  been  able 
to  continue  in  its  life  something  of  his  splendid 
qualities,  and  especially  that  it  might  not  fail 
to  achieve  his  own  rare  combination  of  breadth 
of  view  and  passionate  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
God  and  the  needs  of  men,  so  I  may  wish  for  the 
readers  of  his  life  that  they  may  feel  the  inspiring 
contagion  of  his  spirit. 


HENRY   CHURCHILL  KING 


OBERLIN  COLLEGE 

December  3,  1908 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I.    YOUTH  AND  PREPARATION I 

II.    THE    PARISHES    IN    THE    MOUNTAINS    OF    THE 

VOSGES 2I 

III.  EDUCATIONAL  THEORIES  AND  PRACTISE     .     .     .  33 

IV.  MAKING  A  HOME 57 

V.    A  ROAD  TO  CIVILIZATION 71 

VI.    CALL  TO  AMERICA 79 

VII.    BEREAVEMENT  AND  RENEWED  CONSECRATION  TO 

PUBLIC  WELFARE •  95 

VIII.    DURING  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION m 

IX.    SUCCEEDING  YEARS X35 

X.    PERSONALITY  AND  CHARACTERISTICS 151 

XI.    AFTERMATH l8x 


XI 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN Frontispiece 

WALDERSBACH  (FORMERLY  WALDBACH)  ;  HOME  AND  CHURCH 
OF  OBERLIN 36 

HOME  OF  OBERLIN  AT  WALDBACH 66 

FOUDAY   CHURCH    AND    FACTORY    (ONE    OF   OBERLIN'S 
CHARGES) 122 


Xlll 


I 

YOUTH  AND   PREPARATION 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 


YOUTH   AND    PREPARATION 
(1740-1767) 

JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN  was  born 
August  31,  1740,  in  Strasburg  when  it 
was  a  city  of  France.  The  Oberlin  family 
—  one  of  the  most  prominent  among  the  Protes- 
tants of  the  city  —  was  marked  by  superior  in- 
tellectual cultivation  and  an  earnest  religious 
faith.  His  father  was  a  professor  in  the  gym- 
nasium, a  school  preparatory  to  the  university, 
and  was  highly  esteemed  as  an  educator;  an 
elder  brother  who  had  already  won  distinction 
as  a  linguist  was  an  honored  professor  in  the 
university.  An  inscription  on  his  tomb  in  the 
famous  church  of  St.  Thomas  in  Strasburg,  by 
the  side  of  the  mausoleum  of  Marshal  Saxe,  per- 
petuates the  record  of  his  high  rank  and  fame 
as  a  scholar.  His  mother,  a  daughter  of  one  of 
the  professors  of  the  university,  was  a  woman 

3 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

of  rare  endowments,  with  a  poetic  spirit  and 
musical  gifts,  exceptionally  witty  in  conversation, 
who  made  a  profound  impression  with  her  strong 
and  happy  character  upon  her  children.  The 
father  was  both  the  instructor  and  playmate  of 
his  children.  At  a  place  named  Schiltigheim, 
where  he  owned  a  cottage  and  a  few  acres  of 
land,  and  where  the  family  passed  their  sum- 
mers, the  villagers  would  often  see  the  professor 
with  an  old  drum  acting  as  drill  sergeant  and 
drummer  at  the  same  time,  putting  the  boys 
through  military  evolutions.  Fritz  —  as  he  was 
always  called,  even  into  his  later  years  —  be- 
came passionately  fond  of  these  exercises,  and 
the  ideas  of  strictness,  obedience,  and  discipline 
behind  them  remained  with  him  and  account  for 
certain  subsequent  characteristics. 

As  in  the  case  of  most  teachers  in  all  places 
everywhere,  there  was  a  small  income  and  a 
large  family.  By  necessity  the  strictest  economy 
reigned  in  the  household.  Such  straitened  con- 
ditions are  not  pleasant,  but  they  are  often  turned 
to  advantage,  and  this  was  the  experience  of 
the  Oberlin  family.  A  few  sous  were  given  to 
each  of  the  children  weekly,  to  encourage  them 
in  habits  of  prudent  calculation  and  to  train  them 
in  the  practise  of  benevolence.  Often  when  the 

4 


YOUTH  AND   PREPARATION 

family  exchequer  ran  unexpectedly  low  and  bills 
to  be  paid  came  in,  the  children  would  be  able 
to  meet  the  emergency  from  their  boxes  of  sav- 
ings. This  spirit  of  economy,  and  at  the  same 
time  of  charity,  together  with  the  practise  of  keep- 
ing accurate  accounts,  took  deep  root  in  the  boy's 
heart  and  went  into  the  formation  of  his  char- 
acter. Many  incidents  of  his  methods  of  econ- 
omy and  his  accompanying  ideas  of  responsibility 
for  charity  are  related  of  his  boyhood  and  youth. 

In  one  of  his  unedited  sermons  a  passage  oc- 
curs with  its  side-light  upon  him  in  this  early 
period  of  his  life :  "  I  remember  in  my  youth 
passing  through  a  crowded  street  and  hearing 
a  girl  crying  out  in  anger,  '  Look,  see  that  fine 
lady  with  the  pearls  around  her  neck!  She 
bought  them  with  the  money  my  father  was 
cheated  out  of.  My  father  was  shoemaker  for 
her  father  and  was  not  paid.  Our  fathers  are 
dead;  I  am  poor  and  wretched,  but  his  daughter 
is  dressed  like  a  peacock.' '  Oberlin  related  this 
as  an  illustration  of  dishonesty  in  not  meeting 
just  obligations. 

His  fellow  students  discovered  in  Oberlin  this 
frugality  and  economy  which  they  mistook  for 
penuriousness,  at  the  temporary  cost  of  his 
personal  popularity.  One  of  them,  while  passing 

5 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

with  him  over  a  bridge  in  the  city,  determined 
to  give  his  classmate  a  lesson,  corrective  of  his 
supposed  parsimony.  Taking  a  coin  from  his 
pocket  he  hurled  it  into  the  water,  saying,  "  See 
that,  Fritz  ?  "  There  was  no  reply  to  this  foolish 
performance,  but  later  on,  meeting  a  blind  man, 
Oberlin  gave  him  a  coin  such  as  the  student  had 
thrown  away,  simply  saying  to  his  companion, 
"  See?"  So  early  had  he  learned  the  lesson  of 
regard  for  those  who  suffered  in  the  hardships 
of  life. 

In  his  university  course  the  home  influence 
revealed  itself  to  indicate  how  he  was  developing 
his  positiveness  of  character.  While  he  was  well 
endowed  mentally,  he  was  slow  in  memorizing  — 
not  an  uncommon  experience  with  minds  which 
make  their  original  channels  rather  than  run  into 
those  of  others.  Determined  at  any  cost  to  over- 
come what  he  considered  a  serious  defect,  he 
used  the  early  morning  hours  in  memory  prac- 
tise, when  his  mind  was  fresh  and  retentive,  and 
for  fear  of  oversleeping  mornings  and  thus 
losing  his  self-imposed  discipline,  he  habitually 
placed  pieces  of  wood  in  his  bed  to  prevent  him 
from  sleeping  too  soundly.  During  his  entire 
college  course  he  was  thus  strict  with  himself, 
in  many  ways  permitting  no  opportunity  for  im- 

6 


YOUTH  AND   PREPARATION 

provement  to  be  lost.  He  could  not  satisfy  him- 
self to  take  hold  of  a  study  without  every  effort 
to  master  it.  Whatever  the  extra  labors,  what- 
ever denials  of  temporary  pleasure,  he  counted 
as  nothing  when  they  stood  between  him  and 
his  purpose. 

His  university  studies  were  made  under  emi- 
nent professors,  and  from  them  he  took  his  de- 
gree of  Bachelor  of  Arts  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
years,  and  when,  five  years  later,  he  had  won  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  he  remained  a 
student  yet  undecided  as  to  his  future  vocation. 
He  was  not  at  this  time  looking  forward  to  the 
pulpit.  His  mother  was  a  regular  attendant  at 
the  church  services  of  Pastor  Lorentz,  whose 
theological  views  were  considered  so  question- 
able that  Fritz  did  not  care  to  be  among  his 
hearers.  To  please  his  mother,  however,  he 
would  accompany  her  to  church,  and  this  re- 
sulted in  his  becoming  sympathetic  with  the 
pastor  and  a  regular  attendant  upon  his  preach- 
ing. This  Pastor  Lorentz,  who  was  also  pro- 
fessor while  Oberlin  was  a  student  in  the  uni- 
versity, was*  subsequently  suspended  by  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities  for  variance  from  their 
standards,  and  his  classroom  was  deserted  by 
the  students.  Oberlin  regarded  the  action  as  un- 

7 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

just  and  championed  the  professor  against  the 
popular  majority.  At  the  hours  of  recitation 
formerly  held  by  the  professor  Oberlin  proceeded 
daily  to  his  house,  rang  the  bell,  bowed  gravely 
to  the  one  who  opened  the  door  as  a  mark  of 
his  great  and  undiminished  respect,  and  retired. 
The  repetition  of  this  amused  the  students  and 
made  him  the  subject  of  their  good-natured 
banter.  It  was  no  question  for  him,  however, 
what  they  thought  or  chose  to  do.  He  believed 
that  his  professor  had  been  wronged,  and  for 
one,  if  the  only  one,  he  proposed  to  stand  for 
him.  Any  coward  can  go  with  a  majority. 
Oberlin  was  not  a  coward. 

By  this  time  Oberlin  had  thought  out  for  him- 
self his  way  into  the  gospel  ministry  and  he  soon 
"  took  orders  "  in  the  Lutheran  Church.  But  he 
had  settled  the  question  of  direction  only,  not 
yet  of  service,  and  when  he  was  urged  to  take 
a  pastoral  charge  he  replied,  "  No,  I  am  not 
qualified.  To  preach  to  others,  I  need  more  of 
the  experience  of  life.  Moreover,  I  do  not  wish 
to  labor  in  some  comfortable  pastoral  charge,  like 
either  of  those  suggested,  where  I  can  be  at  ease. 
The  question  is,  Where  can  I  be  most  useful  ?  " 
He  was  not  attracted  to  the  parishes  which  others 
were  ready  to  seek  and  eager  to  seize.  He  would 

8 


YOUTH  AND   PREPARATION 

choose  rather  a  work  which  would  not  be  done 
unless  he  should  do  it. 

The  thought  which  at  this  time  appears  to 
have  been  uppermost  was  the  divinity  of  thor- 
ough preparedness.  Meanwhile  he  found  an  op- 
portunity to  assist  both  himself  and  his  parents 
by  acting  as  tutor  to  students  who  needed  help 
over  the  hard  places  in  their  studies.  In  this 
way  he  proved  himself  to  be  "  apt  to  teach/' 
and  was  much  sought  after.  This  led  to  his 
engagement  as  a  private  tutor  in  the  family  of 
the  most  eminent  surgeon  in  Strasburg,  Dr. 
Zeigenhagen.  Oberlin  saw  at  once  the  rare  ad- 
vantages of  this  position,  and  without  neglecting 
his  specific  duties  as  tutor  eagerly  devoted  him- 
self to  medical  and  surgical  studies.  He  also 
took  up  the  study  of  botany,  which  he  pursued 
diligently.  He  remained  here  until  he  had  made 
no  small  attainment  in  those  studies.  He  did 
not  know  how  he  might  use  this  knowledge,  but 
he  did  realize  that  every  mastery  will  sometime 
prove  itself  in  unthought-of  ways  and  be  of 
service. 

From  the  time  that  Oberlin  was  twenty  years 
of  age  —  two  years  after  his  university  gradu- 
ation—  he  began  to  keep  a  journal.  In  those 
days  this  was  the  unfailing  repository  of  one's 

9 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

religious  experiences.  It  was  quite  the  custom 
for  people  of  an  introversive  temperament  and 
of  severe  and  earnest  life  to  commit  their  thoughts 
and  feelings  to  paper,  as  few  do  now  in  this  less 
subjective  age.  Oberlin's  journal,  still  extant, 
contains  the  most  manly  resolutions  to  rule  his 
life  strongly  and  severely.  "  I  wish  to  force  my- 
self/' he  writes,  "  to  conquer  my  natural  inclina- 
tion, neither  to  eat  nor  drink  more  than  necessary 
for  my  health.  I  wish  to  force  myself  to  rule 
my  anger,  which  so  often  gets  the  best  of  me. 
I  wish  to  content  myself  with  the  least  possible 
in  the  way  of  clothing  and  furniture,  that  I  may 
always  put  aside  some  portion  of  my  income  for 
the  poor,  and  to  pay  those  who  serve  in  such  a 
way  as  will  satisfy  them,  but  in  so  far  as  possible 
to  get  on  without  unnecessary  help."  His  "  act 
of  consecration  to  God,"  dated  January  i,  1760, 
indicates  the  intensity  of  his  feelings:  —  "I  am 
now  convinced  of  Thy  rights.  I  desire  nothing 
more  than  to  belong  to  the  holy  God.  I  give 
myself  to  Thee  this  day  in  the  most  solemn  way. 
I  consecrate  all  that  I  am  and  all  I  have,  the  facul- 
ties of  my  soul,  the  members  of  my  body,  my  por- 
tion and  my  time."  This  was  endorsed  as  follows : 
"  Renewed  at  Waldbach,  January  i,  1770." 
We  may  not  regret  the  fact  that  self -dedication 
10 


YOUTH  AND   PREPARATION 

to  God  is  no  longer  likely  to  take  these  ancient 
forms  of  devotion,  but  certainly  there  is  great 
promise  for  future  usefulness  when  a  serious- 
minded  youth  in  looking  out  upon  life  can  find 
himself  ready  to  take  as  truthful  a  view  of  his 
relationships  to  God  and  man  as  did  this  young 
student  at  twenty  years  of  age.  Nor  was  this 
a  mere  formal  act  of  consecration  on  the  part 
of  Oberlin.  His  fervency  of  soul  was  without 
affectation.  He  had  come  to  desire  to  devote 
himself,  with  full  sincerity  in  the  love  of  God, 
with  his  whole  heart  and  soul  and  strength,  to 
the  service  of  his  fellow  men.  His  sympathy 
with  humanity,  his  practicality,  his  humor,  his 
cheerfulness  of  spirit,  and  his  love  and  apprecia- 
tion of  nature  were  sufficient  to  counteract  any 
tendency  toward  an  unnatural  mannerism  of 
piety. 

At  this  time  Oberlin  had  been  offered  a  chap- 
laincy in  a  French  regiment  and  had  accepted 
it.  The  military  drills  of  his  youth  had  left 
him  with  strong  predilections  for  such  a  life,  and 
he  saw  in  it  a  prospect  of  peculiar  usefulness, 
gratifying  to  his  sense  of  duty  in  that  it  would 
enable  him  to  influence  and  protect  young  men 
away  from  the  restraining  influences  of  home 
and  subject  to  great  temptations.  In  anticipa- 

ii 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

tion  of  this  and  preparatory  to  the  assumption 
of  his  duties  he  had  resigned  his  tutorship  and 
taken  lodgings  in  the  city,  where  he  was  pursuing 
a  special  course  of  reading.  Particularly  he  was 
studying  Voltaire,  that  he  might  be  better  able 
to  combat  the  current  unbelief  in  the  army. 
This  was  his  plan,  but  it  was  not  God's  purpose. 

On  a  cold  February  evening,  while  Oberlin 
was  lying  on  his  pallet  with  a  distorted  face 
and  suffering  terribly  from  the  toothache,  a  mis- 
sionary from  the  Vosges  Mountains  entered  the 
apartment.  He  sent  a  scrutinizing  glance  around, 
evidently  struck  with  the  poverty  of  the  room, 
and  at  once  introduced  himself. 

"  Ah,  Pastor  Stuber,"  said  Oberlin,  "  welcome, 
Herr  Pastor;  but  what  can  have  brought  you 
here  to  me?" 

"First  of  all,  of  course,  the  desire  to  make 
your  acquaintance;  then,  because  I  have  some 
business  with  you." 

"  You  certainly  surprise  me,  Herr  Pastor.  It 
must  be  some  very  urgent  business  that  has 
brought  you  up  to  the  third  story  to  an  un- 
known student  such  as  I  am." 

"  Not  so  unknown  as  you  suppose,  Herr  Ober- 
lin. I  have  learned  about  you.  Your  name  has 
been  mentioned  to  me  as  one  who  does  not  fol- 

12 


YOUTH  AND   PREPARATION 

low  the  beaten  paths  or  routine  of  ministerial 
candidates.  You  have  studied  surgery  and  medi- 
cine. You  have  a  knowledge  of  botany  and 
medicinal  herbs.  Is  not  this  so  ?  " 

"  In  my  leisure  hours  I  paid  some  attention 
to  botany;  Dr.  Zeigenhagen  has  taught  me 
bloodletting,  and  I  have  had  some  experience 
in  the  anatomical  room." 

Oberlin  had  raised  himself  upon  his  pallet  and 
was  listening  with  swollen  cheek  upon  his  hand. 

"And  you  speak  French?" 

"  A  little,  Herr  Pastor." 

"  Your  brother,  Jeremias,  assures  me  that  you 
speak  it  perfectly.  This  is  very  rare  in  Stras- 
burg.  It  is  a  most  uncommon  example  among 
our  candidates." 

"  I  tell  you,  my  dear  pastor,  that  my  brother 
flatters  me  and  spoils  me.  It  is  not  a  good  thing 
in  him,  and  I  would  much  prefer  that  he  would 
communicate  to  me  some  of  his  extensive  scien- 
tific knowledge  rather  than  encourage  me  in 
idleness." 

"  Indeed,  my  young  friend,  you  must  have  a 
very  agreeable  brother;  and  yet  as  professor 
he  is  not  understood  to  be  very  indulgent.  Will 
you  be  kind  enough  to  explain  to  me  what  this 
little  pan  means  that  I  see  there  by  your  lamp  ?  " 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

A  deep  blush  ran  over  Oberlin's  face.  "  Pardon 
the  cooking,  Herr  Pastor!  I  take  my  dinner 
with  my  parents,  and  I  bring  away  some  bread 
which  my  good  mother  gives  me.  At  eight 
o'clock  I  put  this  little  pan  over  my  lamp,  place 
my  bread  in  it,  with  a  little  water  and  salt.  Then 
I  go  on  with  my  studies." 

"  You  are  my  man,"  exclaimed  Stuber,  rising 
from  his  chair. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  Herr  Pastor  ?  Do  you 
think  I  am  ridiculous  in  my  habits  ?  " 

"  You  live  on  the  diet  of  Lacedaemon,  Yes, 
you  are  my  man." 

Oberlin  was  confused,  not  to  say  excited.  He 
did  not  comprehend  Stuber. 

Stuber  answered,  "I  see  you  do  not  under- 
stand me;  but  I  have  got  my  man  and  I  shall 
not  let  you  go.  I  want  you  for  the  pastorship 
of  Waldbach  in  the  Ban-de-la-Roche." 

Oberlin,  overwhelmed  with  surprise,  offered  all 
manner  of  objections,  but  Stuber  in  intense  ear- 
nestness continued  with  excited  voice: 

"  Yes,  sir,  you  are  my  man.  The  Master  you 
have  to  serve  calls  you  by  my  voice.  Listen; 
you  must  become  pastor  at  Waldbach.  In  the 
name  of  the  Master  and  Lord  of  us  all  I  tell 
you  this.  There  are  a  hundred  poor  and  wretched 

14 


YOUTH  AND   PREPARATION 

families  in  want  of  the  bread  of  life;  four  or 
five  hundred  to  direct  and  to  save.  Yes,  poor 
and  wretched  and  friendless ! " 

Oberlin's  heart  was  in  a  tumult.  This  was 
just  the  field  of  labor  he  had  wished  —  his  ideal 
of  missionary  work;  but  there  were  difficulties  in 
the  way.  He  had  been  appointed  chaplain  to  a 
regiment  in  the  French  Army  called  the  "  Royal 
Alsace/'  and  his  word  of  acceptance  had  just 
been  given.  Ought  he  to  seek  release  from  the 
post  of  duty,  even  supposing  he  might  be  released  ? 
He  frankly  thought  not.  He  urged  this  upon 
Stuber,  saying,  "  My  dear  brother  in  Christ,  you 
honor  me  very  much.  But  there  are  everywhere 
souls  to  save  and  direct,  and  in  the  regiments 
of  the  king  more  than  elsewhere.  The  devil  is 
close  on  the  heels  of  these  young,  gay  officers 
that  display  themselves  so  gracefully  on  the 
promenade  and  on  parade;  the  devil  is  inces- 
santly ruining  the  soldiers  in  the  taverns  and 
in  all  manner  of  bad  places.  I  assure  you,  my 
dear  pastor,  that  as  chaplain  I  am  going  to  hunt 
Satan;  besides,  I  have  given  my  word;  and 
furthermore,  may  I  without  offense  ask  you  why 
you  quit  the  Ban-de-la-Roche  if  the  need  is  so 
great  and  there  is  so  much  good  to  be  done 
there?" 

IS 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN, 

"  My  young  friend,  I  shall  not  leave  the  Ban- 
de-la-Roche  until  my  place  there  is  filled  by  such 
a  man  as  you.  I  leave  because  my  poor  wife  is 
dying  far  from  medical  aid.  She  cannot  live 
there;  the  air  is  too  severe  for  her/' 

"  That  alters  the  case,"  said  Oberlin,  holding 
out  his  hand  to  Stuber.  "  Your  parish  must  then 
be  in  a  very  cold  region." 

"  I  do  not  wish  to  exaggerate  anything,  my 
dear  Oberlin.  Six  months  of  winter;  at  times 
the  cold  of  the  shores  of  the  Baltic;  a  wind  like 
ice  sometimes  comes  down  from  the  mountain 
tops  above  us;  the  sick  and  the  dying  are  to  be 
visited  in  remote,  wild,  solitary  places  among  the 
forests.  My  wife  often  was  almost  dead  with 
terror,  supposing  me  lost  in  the  snow-storms.  It 
is  like  the  passages  of  the  Alps.  Have  you  ever 
been  in  Switzerland  ?  " 

"  Never,  but  I  can  easily  imagine  it.  But  then 
I  suppose  your  summers  are  fine  and  somewhat 
compensate  for  the  rigors  of  the  winter?" 

"  Four  or  five  short  months  interrupted  by 
winds  and  storms.  Yes,  the  fragrant  odors  of 
some  meadows  perfume  the  summer  air;  and  rye 
ripens  well  in  good  seasons." 

"  And  your  parishioners,  —  are  they  well  dis- 
posed?" 

16 


YOUTH  AND  PREPARATION 

"  Not  too  much  so,  not  too  much,  I  must  say 
without  calumniating  them!  There  are  some 
good  souls  there  who  are  much  attached  to  me; 
but  they  are  all  frightfully  ignorant  and  untract- 
able  and  proud  of  their  ignorance.  It  is  an  iron- 
headed  people,  a  population  of  Cyclops.  When 
I  went  there  the  schoolmaster  was  a  swineherd 
in  the  summer;  in  winter  he  taught  the  children 
in  a  miserable  hut  the  little  he  knew.  I  have 
contended  now  these  ten  years  with  a  rebellious 
material.  I  had  left  Waldbach  for  a  few  years 
of  ministry  in  the  delightful  town  of  Barr.  It 
was  in  the  midst  of  vineyards,  and  my  young 
family  flourished  like  the  vines  in  the  warm  sun, 
but  when  I  heard  that  my  successor  had  allowed 
the  bark  freighted  with  souls  which  I  had  com- 
mitted to  his  charge  to  drift,  my  heart  bled.  I 
returned  again  to  Waldbach  and  laid  hold  of 
the  rudder,  but  now  I  can  hold  it  no  longer. 
I  have  told  you  the  reason  why." 

Oberlin  was  taking  in  the  situation.  He 
slowly  lifted  his  large  blue  eyes  and  asked: 
"  Have  you  any  material  resources  to  aid  the 
poor?  You  say  most  of  them  are  extremely 
poor." 

"  My  parishioners  have  nothing.  I  myself  have 
very  little.  My  wife's  small  fortune  is  already 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

exhausted  in  relieving  a  little  the  general  misery. 
Four  districts  even  poorer  than  the  mother  parish 
are  also  td  be  served;  not  a  single  practicable 
road  from  village  to  village;  deep  mud  holes 
among  the  cabins  and  huts ;  the  fruit,  wild  cher- 
ries, apples,  and  pears  fit  only  for  swine;  and 
the  inhabitants  abandoned  to  the  completest  in- 
difference have  not  the  least  concern  to  amelio- 
rate their  condition.  The  Intendant  of  Alsace, 
who  knows  the  British  Islands,  has  told  me  that 
my  parishioners  and  their  pigs  are  a  miniature 
Ireland. 

"  I  have  not  told  you  all,"  continued  Stuber. 
"  I  will  come  again  at  another  time.  I  much  fear, 
however,  that  you  will  answer  me  as  two  of 
your  fellow  candidates  have  already  done :  '  It 
is  much  pleasanter  to  live  here  in  a  good  climate 
than  up  there  among  the  rude  people  in  that  in- 
clement air  of  the  Vosges.' ' 

"  I  do  not  say  that,  Herr  Pastor ;  far  from  it. 
Every  one  of  your  words  has  knocked  at  the 
door  of  my  heart  like  the  blows  of  a  hammer. 
What  agony  it  is  to  find  one's  self  thus  in  life 
at  a  dividing  road  without  knowing  which  way 
to  go!  Ah,  what  a  regret  that  I  gave  my 
word  to  accept  the  chaplaincy  only  a  few  days 
since ! " 

18 


YOUTH  AND  PREPARATION 

Stuber  understood  the  struggle  in  Oberlin's 
heart. 

"  I  will  not  urge  you  now,"  he  said.  "  I  will 
come  to-morrow.  We  will  see  what  can  be  done 
to  release  you  from  your  engagement.  I  will 
come  to-morrow;  perhaps  then  I  may  get  your 
answer." 

"  Indeed,  it  is  not  necessary  to  wait  till  to- 
morrow to  ask  God  to  enlighten  us.  We  will 
appeal  to  him  now  to  tell  us  on  which  side  duty 
may  be." 

Thereupon  Stuber  knelt  on  the  tiles  of  the 
attic  and  prayed,  while  Oberlin  with  him  implored 
the  guidance  of  the  Lord.  The  Spirit  of  God 
was  with  them.  This  poor  upper  room  was  very 
near  to  heaven,  and  when  the  two  lifted  their 
heads,  in  silence  they  joined  hands.  The  struggle 
was  over.  It  was  settled  that  Oberlin  would  go 
to  the  mountains  if  the  vacant  position  in  the 
army  could  be  satisfactorily  filled. 

Conviction  was  action.  There  were  not  lack- 
ing those  who  were  more  than  ready  to  take  the 
attractive  chaplaincy.  Oberlin  was  honorably  re- 
leased, and  on  March  30,  1767,  in  his  twenty- 
seventh  year,  he  arrived  at  Waldbach. 

There  have  been  many  battles  in  Strasburg. 
The  Roman  armies  have  fought  there.  The 

19 


JOHN  FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

Germans  have  triumphed  there.  The  tricolors 
of  France  in  turn  have  waved  in  victory  there; 
but  the  issues  of  the  moral  conflict  between  faith 
and  sight,  between  the  previous  choice  and  the 
present  call  to  a  life  of  self-abnegation,  made 
this  decision  a  more  glorious  conquering  than 
ever  came  to  any  hero  of  war. 


20 


II 


THE  PARISHES  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 
OF  THE  VOSGES 


II 

THE  PARISHES  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS  OE 
THE  VOSGES 

(1584-1767) 

TO  understand  or  appreciate  the  mission 
of  Oberlin  it  is  necessary  to  keep  in 
sight  certain  facts  of  history.  The  dis- 
trict to  which  he  went  had  been  from  early  his- 
tory a  disputed  territory.  Alsatia  formed  a  part 
of  Ancient  Gaul,  and  as  such  was  included  in 
the  Roman  empire.  The  Romans  held  it  for 
half  a  century,  when  it  passed  to  the  Franks. 
About  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century  it  became 
German.  Later,  in  1648,  most  of  it  was  ceded 
to  France,  and  subsequently  nearly  all  which  had 
remained  German  provinces  were  made  over  to 
France. 

Thus  the  "Ban-de-la-Roche"  was  a  French 
district,  then  German,  then  French  again,  and 
since  1871  is  once  more  German.  In  each  case 
until  the  last  it  was  held  as  a  fief.  The  people 

23 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

were  vassals  oppressed  by  wars  and  often  by 
cruel  lords. 

This  district  contains  two  parishes  of  about 
nine  thousand  acres,  one  Rothau,  and  the  other 
consisting  of  the  little  villages  of  Waldbach, 
Wildersbach,  Solbach,  Bellefosse,  Belmont,  and 
Fouday.  Waldbach,  the  home  of  Oberlin  and  the 
most  nearly  central,  is  about  three  thousand  feet 
above  the  sea.  The  other  villages  are  higher. 

While  much  of  the  history  of  this  region  of 
the  Vosges  is  evidently  legendary,  there  is  au- 
thentic authority  that  in  the  fifteenth  century 
there  was  a  Roman  Catholic  priest  directing  the 
worship  in  the  little  village  of  Fouday,  though 
the  date  of  the  beginning  of  the  village  is  not 
given.  In  1584  the  Prince  of  Valence  —  the 
lord  of  the  fief  —  sought  to  give  a  new  start 
to  several  enterprises  in  the  Ban  which  a  pre- 
vious owner  had  undertaken  but  had  failed  to 
develop.  A  mine  for  copper  was  opened  at 
Waldbach,  and  one  for  silver  in  the  neighboring 
hamlet  of  Belmont,  with  furnaces  and  forges. 
The  prince  decided,  since  affairs  were  as  bad 
as  they  could  be,  that  a  change  of  religion  would 
be  to  the  advantage  of  his  fief,  and  concluded 
to  introduce  in  the  Ban  in  their  behalf  —  and  his 
own  —  the  "  Reformed  religion/' 

24 


PARISHES    IN   MOUNTAINS   OF   VOSGES 

The  Catholic  priest  at  Fouday  by  this  action 
was  to  lose  his  living.  It  was  very  poor,  but  so 
was  he,  and  such  as  it  was  he  wanted  it.  It 
was  easier  for  him  to  exchange  his  Catholic  gown 
for  the  pastoral  garb  of  the  "  Reformed  "  than 
it  was  for  him  to  move  away.  His  convictions 
did  not  distress  him  either  way,  and  as  the 
ecclesiastical  transition  would  be  less  embar- 
rassing than  a  removal,  like  the  Vicar  of  Bray, 
he  decided  to  stay.  Remain  he  did  in  the 
capacity  of  Protestant  pastor,  as  good  as  he  was 
before  and  no  better.  We  may  be  sure  he  did 
not  greatly  help  the  "  Reformed  religion  "  or  any 
other. 

About  the  year  1600  the  district  had  become, 
through  a  deadly  epidemic,  almost  entirely  de- 
populated, and  as  it  was  important  to  the  min- 
ing interests  that  a  new  people  should  be  found 
to  make  good  the  losses  of  the  original  inhab- 
itants, many  Swiss  Protestant  people  were  in- 
duced to  move  into  the  hills.  Refugees  from 
bitter  religious  persecutions  in  France  also  sought 
shelter  there. 

The  new  attempt  at  civilization  in  the  Ban, 
however,  went  no  further  than  the  beginnings. 
Immediately  —  and  almost  an  exact  century  after 
Luther  posted  his  theses  on  the  door  at  Witten- 

25 


JOHN   FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

berg  —  the  "  Thirty  Years'  War  "  began.  Start- 
ing as  a  struggle  between  Protestant  and  Cath- 
olic princes  in  Germany,  it  involved  almost  all 
the  states  of  the  continent,  and  raged  until  it 
had  wrought  well-nigh  universal  wretchedness. 
Trades  and  industries  perished.  Its  remorseless 
flames  swept  not  only  the  palaces  of  the  nobles 
in  the  cities  but  the  hovels  of  the  peasants  also 
in  remote  places. 

The  little  villages  of  the  Ban-de-la-Roche  were 
overrun  by  hostile  bands  of  soldiers,  who  made 
it  impossible  for  the  terrorized  people  to  culti- 
vate their  fields  even  in  their  poor  way.  They 
were  in  constant  fear  of  attack  and  pillage.  Often 
they  were  compelled  to  seek  the  depths  of  the 
forests  for  safety,  living  upon  such  herbs  as  they 
could  find. 

Previous  to  these  disastrous  times  a  Protestant 
church  and  a  manse  had  been  built  at  Waldbach. 
The  manse  was  so  rude  that  the  incumbent  of 
it  invariably  called  it  "  the  rat  hole."  It  does 
not  appear  that  his  unattractive  designation 
caused  him  to  do  anything  to  improve  it.  He 
remained  at  Waldbach  during  a  part  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War,  and  certain  records  which 
he  left  still  exist. 

In  1647  tne  Ban  found  itself  a  second  time 
26 


PARISHES    IN   MOUNTAINS   OF   VOSGES 

well-nigh  depopulated,  all  the  villages  together 
numbering  no  more  than  ninety  people,  and  when 
the  war  ended  in  1648  the  sufferings  of  the  en- 
tire generation  had  been  so  great  and  the  misery 
so  extreme  that  the  five  villages  of  the  Ban 
together  had  but  forty-three  survivors. 

A  half  century  passed,  and  the  country  again 
recovered  itself,  until  the  district  comprised  nearly 
one  hundred  families ;  but  all  this  time  it  had  been 
a  hard  battle  for  sheer  existence.  In  the  short 
summer  season  the  people  gathered  barely  enough 
food  to  sustain  their  impoverished  life  through 
the  long  winter,  only  to  renew  the  struggle  when 
the  snows  melted.  With  no  trades  and  without 
industries  other  than  the  rudest  agriculture,  and 
with  no  intelligent  cultivation  of  the  soil  for  this, 
their  roads  mere  by-paths,  their  streams  without 
bridges,  their  food  scanty  and  coarse,  what  could 
be  looked  for  but  hopeless  and  hapless  lives? 

It  would  be  incorrect  indeed  to  leave  the  im- 
pression that  nothing  had  been  done  to  amelio- 
rate their  sad  condition.  The  churches  at  Fouday 
and  Waldbach  from  time  to  time  since  1626  had 
received  as  many  as  twelve  different  pastors,  min- 
istering with  long  interruptions;  but  war  and 
pestilence  had  destroyed  most  of  their  work. 
Some  of  them,  moreover,  had  been  poor  shep- 

27 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

herds  who  had  left  no  evidences  of  usefulness. 
The  forms  of  religion  had  not  been  entirely  lost 
but  had  been  wholly  neglected,  and  life  was  such 
a  constant  wrestle  with  poverty  that  nothing 
better  than  the  conditions  described  could  have 
been  expected. 

To  the  poor  people  with  such  an  inheritance 
of  hard  history  and  poor  life,  came  in  1750  the 
forerunner  of  Oberlin,  Pastor  Jean  Georges 
Stuber.  He  was  twenty-eight  years  of  age,  a 
graduate  of  the  University  of  Strasburg,  with 
superior  literary  and  scientific  culture,  and  thor- 
oughly consecrated  to  his  missionary  work.  He 
soon  saw  that  nothing  permanent  could  be  hoped 
for  in  attempting  to  evangelize  the  existing  igno- 
rance. Missionaries  had  preached  to  the  people 
and  failed.  Stuber  realized  that  righteousness 
needs  knowledge  and  that  ignorance  is  both  un- 
certain and  superstitious.  He  saw  as  none  had 
before  him,  that  there  must  be  coworking  of 
religion  and  education,  the  one  for  energy,  the 
other  for  wisdom  and  permanence.  His  first 
work,  therefore,  was  to  establish  schools,  one  in 
each  little  village.  These  were  primitive  enough, 
but  they  were  beginnings.  He  made  himself  re- 
sponsible for  expenses,  and  procured  for  the  pupils 
books  and  paper  and  ink,  visiting  Strasburg  from 

28 


PARISHES   IN   MOUNTAINS   OF   VOSGES 

time  to  time  to  solicit  aid,  and  to  interest  the 
benevolent  in  this  new  form  of  missionary  serv- 
ice. He  was  one  of  those,  of  whom  there  are 
few,  who  are  blessed  with  the  valuable  gift  of 
promoting  charity  in  others.  Let  us  be  grate- 
ful for  a  succession  of  such  philanthropic  souls. 
The  world  is  less  selfish  because  of  them.  Both 
his  tact  and  the  courage  in  his  solicitation  come 
down  to  us  in  an  illustration.  The  provost 
of  the  Ban-de-la-Roche  resided  in  Strasburg. 
Stuber  asked  of  him  lumber  enough  to  build  a 
schoolhouse.  This  high  personage,  in  rather  a 
disheartening  way,  declined  to  contribute;  but 
Stuber,  by  no  means  disconcerted  by  his  positive 
refusal,  said,  "  I  'trust  your  Excellency  will  not 
forbid  me  to  call  upon  some  charitably  disposed 
people  and  solicit  aid  for  such  a  needful  work." 
"Not  at  all,  not  at  all;  call  upon  whom  you 
please."  "  Well,"  replied  Stuber,  with  his  pleas- 
antest  smile,  "  as  your  Excellency  is  well  known 
for  his  charity  and  good  deeds,  I  will  begin 
here,"  holding  out  his  hat.  The  nerve  and  the 
manner  of  it  pleased  the  provost  and  ended  in 
his  contributing  the  whole  amount  of  lumber  for 
the  school  and  in  making  an  express  condition 
that  Stuber  should  dine  with  him  every  time  he 
visited  Strasburg. 

29 


JOHN   FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

Stuber,  who  had  rare  gifts  in  music,  intro- 
duced in  his  little  schools  musical  instruction. 
For  a  generation  there  had  been  no  singing;  no 
one  knew  how  to  sing  correctly.  There  was  not 
a  Bible  or  a  Testament  in  the  entire  district. 
He  secured  copies  of  these,  and  edited  a  cate- 
chism, to  bring  out  the  more  vital  Christian 
teachings.  He  repaired  the  church  building  at 
Waldbach  and  began  a  public  library  with  a 
hundred  volumes. 

Thus  for  ten  years  in  two  pastorates,  from 
1750  to  1754,  and  again  from  1760  to  1767, 
Stuber  grappled  with  the  difficulties  of  this  neg- 
lected field,  attacking  the  ignorance  and  the 
poverty  of  the  people  in  these  ways,  but  not 
without  encountering  much  opposition.  Fixed 
in  their  habits,  most  of  the  people  did  not  know 
enough  to  wish  for  improvement  and  few  had 
any  desire  to  be  made  better. 

Ten  years  were  too  few  to  overcome  the  in- 
ertia of  a  long-degraded  heredity  and  to  change 
the  habits  of  feeling,  thought,  and  action  which 
had  been  handed  down  for  many  generations. 
Doubtless  it  often  seemed  a  long  time  to  this 
man  who,  single-handed  and  alone,  was  carrying 
the  heavy  burden.  His  failing  health,  and  the 
more  rapid  decline  of  the  health  of  his  wife,  at 

30 


PARISHES   IN   MOUNTAINS   OF   VOSGES 

last  compelled  him  to  leave  this  laborious  service 
without  having  made  much  impression.  But  he 
had  put  too  much  of  his  life  into  this  wretched 
charge  now  to  remit  his  interest  when  he  left 
it  to  assume  a  pastorate  in  Strasburg.  He  could 
not  endure  the  thought  that  the  work  which  he 
had  begun  might  be  lost  or  that  it  should  fall 
into  unworthy  hands.  His  problem  was,  "  Can 
any  one  be  found  willing  to  take  up  the  task  of 
bringing  redemption  to  these  rude  people  and 
to  endure  the  hardness  of  life  which  this  in- 
volves ?  "  It  was  with  this  question  that  he  had 
gone  to  Oberlin,  and  it  was  with  this  history 
of  bitter  life  on  the  part  of  the  people  and  of 
his  almost  hopeless  endeavor  that  Oberlin  in  the 
strength  of  his  early  manhood  had  answered  him, 
saying,  "  I  will  go." 


Ill 


EDUCATIONAL  THEORIES  AND 
PRACTISE 


Ill 

EDUCATIONAL  THEORIES   AND 
PRACTISE 

(1767-1771) 

IN  the  little  village  which  was  to  be  his  home 
and  from  which  he  was  to  reach  out  to  the 
four  other  parishes  in  his  charge,  Oberlin 
installed  himself.    We  have  seen  how  the  work 
was  represented  to  him  by  Stuber.     Now  that 
he  acquainted  himself  with  it,  what  did  he  find 
and  how  did  it  appear  to  him? 

Some  have  thought  that  his  biographers  under 
the  spell  of  his  remarkable  personality  have  un- 
consciously darkened  the  history  and  conditions 
of  this  forlorn  field,  as  painters  shade  their  pic- 
tures in  order  that  the  principal  figures  may 
better  stand  out  from  the  background.  It  was 
soon  evident  enough,  however,  that  Stuber,  in  his 
relation  to  Oberlin  of  the  condition  of  things,  did 
not  overstate  the  severe  and  difficult  conditions. 
The  country  was  indeed  in  extremest  poverty. 

35 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

The  people  of  the  fief  were  compelled  to  do  feudal 
duty  in  severe  forms.  The  provosts  and  their 
subalterns  were  so  exacting  in  their  demands  that 
life  was  a  practical  slavery.  One  form  of  the  serv- 
ice required  was  to  bring  coal  to  the  furnaces  at 
Waldbach,  and  to  carry  over  the  rugged  moun- 
tain ways  the  iron  from  the  mines  to  the  forges 
at  Rothau.  The  poverty  of  some  was  so  extreme 
that  one  presentable  suit  of  clothes  was  made  to 
answer  for  different  members  of  the  family  and 
was  worn  alternately,  and  one  pair  of  sabots  had  to 
serve  for  all  the  household.  Tax  dues  far  beyond 
their  ability  accumulated  year  by  year.  Oberlin 
writes :  "  Money-gatherers  are  going  about  say- 
ing, '  Pay  up,  pay  up/  and  it  is  difficult  to  save 
them  from  the  hands  of  the  sheriff.  Whoever 
secures  enough  bread  for  a  whole  year  is  consid- 
ered very  rich."  Again,  he  records  in  his  journal 
the  joy  of  a  poor  widow  upon  receiving  a  cent 
which  he  had  feared  to  offer  her  lest  he  should 
offend  her,  and  further  on  adds,  "  Oh,  I  wish  that 
he  who  has  not  learned  to  save,  to  be  content  with 
little,  to  limit  himself  to  simple  food  and  clothing, 
to  refuse  all  frivolous  things,  might  learn  and 
know  the  life  of  our  poor  Ban-de-la-Roche.  It 
is  difficult  for  those  in  comfort  to  understand  what 
extreme  poverty  means." 

36 


EDUCATIONAL  THEORIES  AND  PRACTISE 

His  diary,  which  is  full,  does  not  anywhere, 
however,  reveal  any  discouragement.  He  was 
afflicted  by  the  misery  of  the  people,  but  he  was 
wont  to  get  mental  relief  from  the  scenes  of  it 
by  turning  to  nature  about  him.  The  moun- 
tains uplifted  his  spirit.  He  loved  the  fields  and 
meadows  of  the  valleys  with  the  streams  cours- 
ing through  them.  They  helped  him  to  postpone 
for  the  time  his  thoughts  of  the  surrounding 
human  sorrow.  His  botany  paid  him  rich  re- 
wards for  the  investment  of  his  past  study.  The 
flora  of  the  fields,  varied  and  rich,  greatly  in- 
terested him.  Of  one  of  his  excursions  as  winter 
approached  he  writes :  "  Nature  was  of  mar- 
velous beauty.  The  valleys  and  hills  were 
of  a  dazzling  whiteness.  The  pine-trees  were 
covered  with  hoar  frost.  The  frozen  snow 
reflected  everywhere  brilliantly  the  rays  of  the 


sun." 


Again  he  refers  to  the  satisfaction  which  came 
to  him  in  this  communion  with  nature  —  "  with 
the  hills  lighted  up  by  the  sun,  variegated  by  the 
ever-changing  shadows  of  the  trees/'  With  all 
his  tendency  to  self-introspection  there  could  be 
nothing  morbid  in  his  mind,  which  thus  delighted 
in  nature  studies  and  in  the  glory  which  the 
world  puts  on. 

37 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

Of  the  ancient  parsonage  into  which  he  came 
he  writes :  "  I  was  living  in  an  old  house  where 
I  endured  continual  embarrassments  and  losses 
both  by  the  rats  and  the  rain,  which  went  through 
everything,  but  I  would  not  think  of  a  better 
one  until  the  schools  are  comfortably  lodged/' 

It  did  not  take  a  long  time  for  him  to  grasp 
the  situation  before  him.  No  temporary  amelio- 
ration would  do;  no  patchwork  upon  existing 
conditions.  It  was  not  worth  while  to  put  new 
wine  into  the  old  bottles.  The  reformation  must 
be  absolutely  radical.  Long-established  evils  to 
which  the  people  were  born  and  which  had  been 
strengthened  and  confirmed  by  generations  of 
ignorance  called  for  entirely  new  environments 
if  there  was  to  be  any  worthy  life.  But  Oberlin 
did  not  make  the  mistake,  too  common  in  our 
day,  that  a  mere  change  in  material  conditions 
for  the  better,  even  if  this  could  be  effected, 
would  insure  a  permanent  betterment  of  the 
people.  The  foundation  hope  for  better  envi- 
ronments that  would  stay  must  rest  in  the  fact 
that  a  better  people  would  work  them  out  and 
maintain  them.  The  necessary  changes  in 
methods  and  manners  of  life  must  begin  in  the 
character  of  the  people  or  they  would  prove  to 
be  unreal  and  temporary.  Character  alone  would 

38 


EDUCATIONAL  THEORIES  AND  PRACTISE 

remove  the  miseries  which  afflicted  them.  As  this 
should  be  understood  and  accepted  their  material 
conditions  would  improve,  and  these  in  turn 
would  react  and  become  great  factors  to  facili- 
tate the  life  impulse  and  the  qualities  which  had 
made  for  their  improvement.  This  was  Oberlin's 
social  theory,  and  a  true  one.  To  remove  evil 
is  not  enough.  There  must  be  a  moral  redemp- 
tion and  moral  power  for  any  permanent  wel- 
fare. Oberlin  clearly  saw  that  this  meant  cease- 
less patience,  and  a  courage  which  would  hold 
on  through  whatever  disappointments  and  over 
whatever  oppositions  and  never  falter.  No  short- 
lived enthusiasms  or  temporary  purposes  were 
worth  consideration.  There  must  be  a  faith  that 
would  not  surrender,  and  there  must  be  full  time 
for  faith's  fruitage  in  the  internal  character  of 
the  people. 

Oberlin  had  gone  to  his  people  first  of  all  as 
a  pastor,  for  which  office  he  had  particularly  pre- 
pared himself.  The  spiritual  welfare  of  his  flock 
naturally  was  his  supreme  consideration,  but  he 
saw  at  once  how  little  mere  preaching  and  evan- 
gelizing could  accomplish  in  this  material  and 
moral  desolation.  True,  his  work  was  to  save 
souls.  But  he  must  do  it  by  saving  men  and 
women.  More;  this  work  of  salvation  must 

39 


JOHN    FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

largely  be  wrought  out  before  souls  became  men 
and  women.  This  was  quite  a  new  missionary  idea. 
Aforetime,  the  missionary  way  was  to  preach  the 
truths  of  the  Bible  to  grown-up  people  and  to  urge 
their  acceptance ;  to  gather  churches,  and  to  min- 
ister to  them.  It  came  to  Oberlin  that  taking  the 
gospel  as  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  in  the 
ignorance  about  him  was  not  nearly  so  simple 
a  matter  as  this.  He  saw  clearly  the  connection 
between  physical  misery  and  moral  degradation. 
He  could  not  deal  with  those  who  were  bearing 
in  themselves  the  penalties  of  the  lack  of  knowl- 
edge as  if  they  were  disembodied  spirits.  They 
must  be  taught  how  to  meet  their  physical  desti- 
tution and  their  mental  destitution  also.  They 
must  be  ministered  to  as  those  who  have  a  life 
to  work  out  now,  as  well  as  an  expectant  life 
in  a  world  to  come.  His  mission  was  not  simply 
to  rescue  here  and  there  a  vacant  mind,  nor  to 
"  throw  out  the  life-line  "  to  shipwrecked  souls, 
but  the  kingdom  of  God  is  "  as  if  a  man  should 
cast  seed  upon  the  earth,"  and  it  should  grow  by 
all  kinds  of  help,  "  he  knoweth  not  how,"  but  not 
without  long  watching  and  care  and  waiting.  In 
this  way  Oberlin  broadened  the  missionary  in- 
terpretation of  salvation  with  the  beginning  of 
his  ministry. 

40 


EDUCATIONAL  THEORIES  AND  PRACTISE 

He  would  therefore  place  the  first  emphasis 
upon  schools.  To  multiply  Christian  schools 
means  to  multiply  Christian  men  and  women; 
and  where  these  grow  in  numbers  schools  are 
sure  to  develop  in  scope  and  quality,  and 
preachers  and  teachers  will  not  fail  to  be  made 
ready  for  the  growing  kingdom.  First,  then,  in 
the  order  both  of  time  and  importance,  there 
must  be  schools;  not  only  indispensable  for  the 
present,  but  also  the  only  guaranty  of  the  future. 
But  how  to  get  these  was  the  question.  Stuber 
had  built  one  little  schoolhouse  before  Oberlin 
came  —  a  single,  poor,  one-room  affair  —  for  five 
villages  miles  apart.  This  was  but  little  better 
than  nothing  at  the  first,  and  now  was  in  a 
ruinous  state. 

Oberlin  began  with  a  scheme  of  education 
which  staggered  the  faith  of  his  friends.  It 
asked,  they  thought;  for  too  much  to  expect 
realization.  There  must  be  teachers  thoroughly 
competent  and  earnest.  For  this  the  people  them- 
selves could  do  absolutely  nothing,  even  if  they 
could  have  appreciated  such  a  use  of  funds  when 
they  were  in  great  material  destitution.  Any 
attempt  to  add  to  their  burdens  was  sure  to  be 
resisted,  nor  could  they  understand  why  schools 
should  be  regarded  as  a  first  necessity.  As 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

Oberlin's  entire  salary  was  only  about  $200  a 
year,  on  which  he  was  to  live,  it  was  evident  that 
he  could  not  erect  many  schoolhouses  from  his 
personal  treasury.  Nevertheless  he  decided  — 
to  use  his  own  words  —  "  it  must  be  done,"  and 
he  proceeded  to  the  doing  without  delay.  He 
purchased  the  ground  and  drew  the  plans  of  a 
sufficiently  commodious  schoolhouse.  Faith  and 
works  joined  hands.  He  prayed  to  God  and  he 
prayed  to  men.  Stuber  was  in  Strasburg  among 
influential  friends,  and  Oberlin  was  not  without 
friends  there,  and  together  they  did  not  fail  to 
make  their  wants  known.  A  loan  of  sixteen 
hundred  francs  —  about  $320  —  was  obtained. 
Oberlin  made  himself  personally  responsible  for 
it,  relying  upon  the  assurance  of  two  thousand 
francs  in  the  future  —  $400  —  promised  by  a 
benevolent  lady  in  Strasburg. 

So  far  well,  but  this  was  not  very  far.  His 
disturbed  parishioners  arose  with  an  emphatic 
"  No ! "  They  opposed  the  entire  scheme.  They 
said,  "  Before  the  building  is  completed  we  shall 
be  taxed  for  it,  and  we  are  taxed  to  death  now. 
We  will  not  submit  to  another  tax." 

"  You  shall  not  be  taxed  for  it,"  said  Oberlin. 

"  But  we  will  have  to  keep  it  in  repair,"  they 
replied,  "  and  we  don't  want  it  and  we  will  not 

42 


EDUCATIONAL  THEORIES  AND  PRACTISE 

have  it.  We  know  what  it  means.  It  means 
burdens  imposed  upon  us." 

The  unruly  spirits  in  the  Ban  were  exceed- 
ingly active,  and  there  are  always  unruly  spirits 
everywhere  if  they  can  get  half  a  chance  to  make 
trouble.  Now  they  had  their  opportunity  with 
Oberlin  and  they  used  it.  They  had  already 
begun  to  criticize  his  preaching.  He  was  too 
direct.  He  was  too  much  in  earnest.  He  was 
too  radical.  He  was  forever  suggesting  changes, 
and  they  protested  against  his  innovations.  The 
more  headstrong  decided  to  attack  him  person- 
ally. "  Our  pastor  is  too  fiery,"  they  said;  "  we 
will  cool  him  off.  We  will  put  him  under  the 
spout  when  he  passes  by."  Oberlin  heard  of  the 
threat  and  lost  no  time  in  going  to  the  head- 
quarters of  the  opposers.  "  Why,  friends,  if  you 
expect  to  wet  me  you  do  not  know  my  horse. 
But  if  you  really  wish  to  do  it,  to  make  the  thing 
easier  for  you  I  will  leave  my  horse  at  home, 
and  go  on  foot  after  this  to  give  you  a  chance." 
After  this  interview  they  hesitated,  and  decided 
to  rest  with  the  threat. 

At  another  time  Oberlin  received  information 
that  certain  ones  opposed  to  his  ideas  had  a  plan 
to  waylay  him  and  inflict  personal  castigation. 
This  would  intimidate  him  and  prevent  his  future 

43 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

interferences.  Learning  where  the  malcontents 
had  come  together,  he  immediately  appeared  to 
them.  "  Here  I  am,  my  friends,  without  fear. 
I  am  acquainted  with  your  design  and  that  you 
propose  to  chastise  me.  Very  well,  if  I  am  cul- 
pable punish  me  for  it.  It  is  better  that  I  should 
deliver  myself  into  your  hands  than  that  you 
should  be  guilty  of  an  ambuscade  to  do  this." 
As  in  other  cases,  this  ended  by  the  peasants  in 
sheer  shame  yielding  their  intention. 

Still,  the  determined  and  almost  violent  oppo- 
sition to  the  proposed  schoolhouse  could  not 
be  overcome.  It  assumed  such  proportion  that 
Oberlin  and  Stuber,  helping  him  from  Strasburg, 
bound  themselves  by  a  written  contract  that  "  we 
will  build  a  schoolhouse  and  it  shall  not  cost 
the  inhabitants  anything,  either  in  grain  or  in 
labor."  This  agreement  brought  a  final  though 
not  a  cheerful  consent. 

"  It  was  inexpressible  joy  to  me,"  wrote  Ober- 
lin, "  when  I  saw  from  week  to  week  the  struc- 
ture going  up."  When  it  was  finished,  a  debt 
of  one  thousand  francs  —  equal  to  his  entire 
year's  salary  —  rested  on  Oberlin,  which  it  took 
him  several  years  with  his  strictest  economy  to 
pay. 

This  building  was  no  sooner  completed  than 
44 


EDUCATIONAL  THEORIES  AND  PRACTISE 

he  immediately  began  another  at  Bellefosse,  a 
few  miles  away.  Here  there  was  less  opposi- 
tion, as  he  was  now  gradually  gaining  the  con- 
fidence of  the  people.  The  construction  of  this 
building  occupied  a  year  and  a  half,  and  left 
an  additional  personal  debt  of  another  thousand 
francs  on  Oberlin,  which,  like  the  former  one, 
was  paid  at  length  by  his  continuous  savings. 
In  a  few  years  the  inhabitants  of  the  other 
villages  came  forward  voluntarily  and  took  the 
cost  and  care  upon  themselves  of  building 
their  own  schoolhouses,  until  each  village  had 
its  own. 

These  secured,  Oberlin  bent  his  energies  to 
find  well-qualified  teachers  who  would  carry  out 
his  ideas  of  an  education,  fitted  for  the  special 
and  peculiar  experience  of  the  class  of  people 
under  his  charge.  He  well  understood  that  the 
teacher  makes  the  school,  but  teachers  could  not 
be  constructed  like  schoolhouses.  True  teachers, 
like  poets,  are  born,  not  made.  While  he  was 
busy  in  securing  them  —  and  he  did  secure  them 
—  he  was  also  planning  and  drawing  up  his 
courses  of  instruction.  Some  idea  of  the  start- 
ing-point of  ignorance  is  seen  in  the  quota- 
tion, "  The  pupil  must  learn  to  count  as  far  as 
a  thousand,  and  add  and  subtract  as  far  as  a 

45 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

hundred."  The  plan  of  instruction  which  he 
wrote  out  and  prescribed  embraced  a  number  of 
years.  It  began  with  the  infant  school,  proceeded 
through  primary,  grammar,  and  advanced  grades, 
with  each  grade  subdivided  and  classified  accord- 
ing to  the  pupils'  attainments. 

His  "  infant  schools  "  were  probably  the  first 
ever  established,  and  in  many  of  his  ideas  and 
methods  in  his  instruction  of  industrial  train- 
ing, both  manual  and  agricultural,  he  anticipated 
Pestalozzi  by  forty  years,  and  Froebel  by  full 
seventy  years  in  many  of  his  educational  theo- 
ries. It  has  been  said  that  Froebel's  best  thought 
was  not  in  relation  to  the  kindergarten,  but  in 
relation  to  the  education  of  adults,  to  make  the 
whole  community  a  unit  of  intellectual  and  moral 
cooperation.  Oberlin  not  only  announced  this 
theory,  but  he  was  putting  it  into  practical  effect, 
amid  untold  oppositions,  many  years  before  Froe- 
bel was  born.  His  infant  schools  practised 
modern  kindergarten  methods.  Observation  and 
experience  convinced  him  that  even  from  the 
cradle  children  are  capable  of  being  taught  to 
distinguish  between  right  and  wrong  and  of 
being  trained  to  habits  of  subordination  and 
industry;  and  in  conjunction  with  his  wife  he 
secured  "  conductrices "  for  each  hamlet,  en- 

46 


EDUCATIONAL  THEORIES  AND  PRACTISE 

gaged  schoolrooms  for  them,  and  became  per- 
sonally responsible  for  their  salaries. 

Instruction  in  these  schools  was  mingled  with 
amusement,  and  while  enough  discipline  was  in- 
troduced to  instil  habits  of  obedience  and  atten- 
tion, a  degree  of  liberty  was  allowed  which  left 
the  infant  mind  the  freedom  of  individuality. 
During  school  hours  the  children  were  formed 
m  great  circles.  Two  women  were  employed, 
one  to  direct  the  handicraft,  and  the  other  to 
entertain  and  instruct.  The  children  of  two  and 
three  years  only  were  to  sit  quietly  by  at  inter- 
vals, while  those  of  four  or  six  years  were  taught 
to  knit  and  spin  and  sew;  and  when  they  were 
beginning  to  be  weary,  they  were  shown  colored 
pictures  relating  to  Scriptural  subjects  or  natural 
history  and  were  to  recite  after  the  teacher  the 
explanations  which  she  gave.  In  addition,  she 
taught  them  to  sing  songs  and  hymns  and  gave 
them  bits  of  useful  information  in  children's 
stories.  In  this  way  their  employments  were 
"  varied  as  much  as  possible,"  "  care  being  taken 
to  keep  them  constantly  alert,  occupied,  and  never 
permitting  them  to  speak  a  word  of  patois." 
When  they  arrived  at  the  proper  age,  the  chil- 
dren were  ready  for  the  primary  grades  in  the 
public  school. 

47 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

Here  again  the  originality  of  Oberlin  is  mani- 
fest. He  introduced  in  these  grades,  and  indeed 
in  all  grades,  a  nicely  adjusted  scheme  of  "  self- 
government."  Monitors  were  to  be  chosen  by 
the  pupils  from  among  themselves  to  observe 
violations  of  good  manners,  disobedience,  idle- 
ness, or  any  departures  from  good  conduct. 
These  monitors  were  to  serve  for  given  periods 
of  time,  when  there  would  be  new  elections.  The 
pupils  also  were  to  choose  juries  and  judges, 
before  whom  all  cases  of  discipline  were  to  be 
brought  for  judgment.  This  was  more  than  a 
century  ago,  when  in  schools  the  accepted  theory 
of  discipline  meant  authority  of  command  and 
the  penalty  of  the  rod. 

In  the  primary  grades  the  pupils  were  to  learn 
to  "  spell  without  a  book,  to  pronounce  correctly, 
and  the  first  ideas  of  morality  and  religion." 
They  were  to  advance  to  arithmetic  "  by  easy 
lessons  in  addition,  multiplication,  subtraction., 
and  division,  upon  the  blackboard."  Through 
intermediate  studies  and  into  what  may  be  called 
the  grammar  grade  were  exercises  "  in  reading 
and  writing,  in  geography  with  maps,  the  study  of 
different  peoples,  their  customs,  governments,  and 
religions,  arithmetic,  grammar,  and  vocal  music." 
In  the  higher  grades  were  "natural  history, 


EDUCATIONAL  THEORIES  AND  PRACTISE 

botany,  familiarity  with  plants,  book-keeping,  his- 
tory, astronomy,  physics,  translations  from  Ger- 
man into  French,  the  rules  of  health,  first  lessons 
in  geometry,  pen-making,  drawing,  and  use  of 
colors."  Oberlin  knew  very  well  that  the  sciences 
could  not  be  taught  in  his  schools  beyond  the 
first  elements,  but  he  was  confident  that  he  could 
aid  the  habit  of  observation  and  study  in  the 
science  of  common  things.  In  his  instructions 
to  the  teachers  the  pupils  were  to  learn  all  that 
could  be  taught  them  "  relating  to  the  seasons  and 
the  weather,  to  the  productions  of  the  earth,  to 
animals,  to  men  and  their  food,  their  clothing  and 
their  houses."  Concerning  property,  they  were 
"  to  learn  about  inheritances,  loans,  debts,  interest, 
processes  of  law,  magistrates,  and  the  common- 
wealth." Our  nature  studies  and  civil  govern- 
ment studies  as  they  are  now  taught  were  pretty 
well  covered  in  Oberlin's  program.  The  princi- 
ples of  agriculture  were  also  in  his  curriculum. 
Added  to  this,  which  we  should  scarcely  expect  to 
find  in  such  conditions,  was  instruction  in  esthetics. 
Oberlin  purposed  to  interest  these  young  minds  in 
what  is  beautiful.  They  were  "  to  draw  from  na- 
ture and  to  color  their  drawings."  They  were  to 
be  taught  "  to  observe  the  forms  and  colors  of 
nature  and  to  draw  rocks,  trees,  flowers,  and 
4  -  49 


JOHN   FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

animals  from  the  things  themselves."  He  fur- 
nished from  his  own  purse  paper,  colors,  and  pen- 
cils for  this.  From  his  printed  notes  for  teachers 
I  quote :  "  Nearly  all  pupils  wish  to  paint  with 
only  brilliant  colors.  Nevertheless,  there  are  few 
brilliant  colors  in  nature.  Rocks,  the  trunks  of 
trees,  houses,  earth,  furniture,  utensils,  have  not 
brilliant  colors.  If  there  are  some  students  wise 
enough  to  take  nature  for  their  model  and  use 
quiet  colors,  I  beg  gentlemen  preceptors  to  send 
me  their  books  of  drawing  that  I  may  examine 
them."  Thus  he  carefully  superintended  every- 
thing. His  schedule  was  not  simply  a  program; 
it  was  to  be  carried  out.  He  watched  and  di- 
rected it.  His  personal  attention  to  details  is 
observable  in  every  undertaking,  and  he  placed 
the  greatest  importance  upon  these  in  educa- 
tion. With  him  there  was  no  confidence  in  gen- 
eral oversight  which  was  careless  of  particular 
duties.  Upon  the  proper  knowledge  and  ad- 
justment of  details  general  principles  work,  and 
he  was  willing  to  give  time  and  thought  to 
the  things  that  came  nearest  to  his  people.  The 
schedule  for  each  day's  work  for  each  school 
was  the  same  in  each  village.  It  is  given  on  the 
opposite  page,  and,  as  will  be  seen,  compares 
favorably  with  modern  schools. 

5° 


EDUCATIONAL  THEORIES  AND  PRACTISE 


1  1! 


<     fe 


tion  of 
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Arit 


ictatio 
a  cha 
of  Ge 
words 


SU 

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. 

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o 


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bo 


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•a 


JOHN   FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

The  children  of  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age 
were  required  to  copy  and  commit  to  memory 
essays  upon  agriculture  and  the  planting  and 
care  of  trees.  Every  child  of  a  certain  age  was 
required  to  plant  two  trees,  and  thereafter  care 
for  them,  the  first-fruits  of  which  were  presented 
to  the  pastor. 

Every  Sunday  the  children  of  each  village  in 
rotation  were  assembled  at  the  church  of  the 
village  to  sing  the  hymns  which  they  had  learned 
to  recite  at  the  schools,  and  to  receive  the  ex- 
hortations of  their  common  father. 

As  the  extraordinary  change  which  these 
efforts  produced  became  known,  it  had  the  effect 
of  putting  larger  means  at  Oberlin's  disposal. 
His  Strasburg  friends  increased  their  subscrip- 
tions, and  he  was  enabled  to  have  a  number  of 
useful  books  printed  especially  for  his  parish- 
ioners. He  procured  an  electrical  machine  and 
other  philosophical  apparatus  and  certain  prizes, 
both  to  award  to  pupils  and  to  teachers.  He  also 
began  a  circulating  library,  each  village  retain- 
ing books  for  a  time  and  passing  them  from 
house  to  house.  Among  the  productions  pre- 
pared by  him  was  a  set  of  school-books  for  the 
exclusive  use  of  the  Ban-de-la-Roche  and  adapted 
to  his  own  program  of  education.  He  also  pre- 
52 


EDUCATIONAL  THEORIES  AND  PRACTISE 

pared  and  published  an  almanac,  cleared  from 
the  usual  symbols  of  superstition  and  other  mat- 
ter to  which  he  took  exception,  with  spaces  for 
a  daily  diary  of  events.  Introducing  this  al- 
manac, he  says :  "  Fathers  and  mothers  of  fami- 
lies are  often  puzzled  to  find  suitable  baptismal 
names  to  distinguish  their  children  from  others 
who  have  the  same  family  names.  Henceforth, 
if  they  will  consult  this  new  almanac,  they  will 
find  a  long  list  of  pretty  names,  and  the  sig- 
nification of  them  when  they  are  of  foreign 
derivation/' 

In  this  way  passed  the  first  four  years  at 
Waldbach.  At  this  date  the  fief,  which  had  been 
under  Catholic  rule,  passed  into  the  hands  of  a 
Protestant  lord,  and  Oberlin,  writing  to  his  friend, 
Zeigenhagen,  at  the  time,  thus  reported  it  to 
him: 

Sunday,  the  7th  of  April,  I  gave  to  Mr.  J.  J.  Tisler, 
who  was  going  to  Rothau,  a  letter  for  the  pastor 
Schweighaeuser,  requesting  him  to  present  himself  to 
the  new  lord  Baron  de  Dietrich  at  Strasburg.  When 
Mr.  Tisler  arrived,  he  found  the  people  waiting  for 
Mr.  Buerle,  who  wanted  to  buy  Ban- de-la-Roche.  The 
sergeant,  who  is  son-in-law  of  the  solicitor,  asked 
Tisler,  "  What  news  ?  "  "A  new  lord,"  Tisler  replied. 
:<  Yes,"  said  the  sergeant,  "  we  are  waiting  for  him, 
Mr.  Buerle."  "  It  is  riot  Mr.  Buerle,"  replied  Tisler, 

53 


JOHN   FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

"  but  Baron  de  Dietrich,  as  pastor  Oberlin  has  assured 
us."  Thereupon  the  sergeant  accused  Tisler  of  lying : 
"  He  knew  better."  "  That  is  possible,"  said  Tisler, 
"  but  I  know  that  our  pastor  prayed  for  the  old  lord  and 
for  the  new  lord,  and  urged  the  citizens  to  have  confi- 
dence in  God,"  adding  that  I  had  named  Baron  de  Diet- 
rich as  our  future  master.  Upon  hearing  that  their 
faces  changed  color,  and  they  said,  "  Now,  we  believe 
it,"  and  some  of  the  Catholic  women  wrung  their  hands 
and  cried,  "  The  Lord  help  us,"  and  others  covered 
their  heads,  exclaiming,  "  Oh,  mein  Gott,  a  Huguenot 
lord ! "  All  Rothau  sent  their  remembrances  to  me. 
"  Do  not  fail  to  tell  him  that  I  send  my  cordial  re- 
gards," was  repeated  on  every  side.  They  well  knew 
what  persecutions  they  had  upon  their  consciences,  and 
how  the  Ban-de-la-Roche  thus  passed  out  of  the  hands 
of  a  Catholic  lord  of  fief;  but  the  fears  of  the  Catho- 
lics were  not  justified  by  any  reprisals. 

The  new  lord  was  received  with  great  joy  when 
he  arrived  at  Waldbach  in  July  1771,  and  shouts 
of,  "  Long  live  the  new  lord!  "  were  heard  every- 
where. Oberlin,  followed  by  his  flock,  went  out 
to  meet  him,  and  young  girls  sang  songs  of  wel- 
come. This  was  greatly  appreciated,  and  from 
that  time  the  baron  interested  himself  in  Ober- 
lin and  his  work.  Many  wrongs  and  tyrannies 
imposed  by  the  former  lords  were  corrected, 
the  taxes  were  reduced,  and  the  feudal  tithes 
lessened.  Baron  de  Dietrich  immediately  in- 

54 


EDUCATIONAL  THEORIES  AND  PRACTISE 

creased  Oberlin's  salary  by  two  hundred  francs 
a  year,  and  in  many  respects  the  inhabitants 
of  the  fief  had  reason  for  new  courage.  It 
had  been  a  trying  but  fruitful  four  years  for 
Oberlin. 


55 


IV 
MAKING   A   HOME 


IV 

MAKING   A    HOME 
(1768) 

PREVIOUS  to  his  departure  to  his  moun- 
tain parish,  Oberlin's  mother,  mindful  of 
his  welfare,  advised  him  to  take  a  wife 
with  him  to  the  parsonage.  He  had  no  such 
purpose  for  himself,  but  he  was  willing  to  be 
counseled  in  a  matter  quite  beyond  his  contem- 
plated plans,  and  consented  to  the  accepted  theory 
that  "  it  is  not  good  that  the  man  should  be  alone/' 
and  that  with  a  good  wife  one's  usefulness  would 
be  promoted.  He  received  the  proposition  as  a 
general  truth,  but  confessed  that  he  had  no 
special  interest  in  its  particular  application.  As 
there  was  no  predilection  on  his  part,  his  mother, 
in  the  usual  conventional  method  of  the  Euro- 
pean countries,  became  the  natural  go-between 
in  the  matter  which  so  intimately  concerned  his 
entire  future.  Naturally,  she  thought  that  a  wife 
who  could  bring  a  wholesome  portion  of  earthly 

59 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

goods  with  her  would  not,  if  other  things  were 
equal,  be  less  valuable  in  the  anticipated  heavenly 
relation.  The  fact  that  her  son  appeared  to  have 
so  little  personal  interest  in  the  matter  was  a 
difficulty  which  she  was  confident  might  be  over- 
come and  adjusted.  The  daughter  of  a  wealthy 
widow  was  suggested,  and,  after  conference,  the 
two  mothers  put  their  heads  together  to  bring 
about  the  match.  The  young  man  in  the  case 
was  informed  that  the  young  lady  did  not  re- 
gard the  possibility  ungraciously,  and  he  was 
encouraged  to  cultivate  friendliness.  His  pas- 
sivity and  docility  in  the  proceedings  did  not 
arise  wholly  from  indifference,  but  in  part  from 
his  theory  and  practise  from  early  youth  to  sub- 
mit every  judgment  to  God  and  to  rely  upon  him 
for  some  especially  providential  indication  of  his 
will;  a  practise  which  easily  may  savor  of  pre- 
sumption, as  at  times  it  did  in  future  cases  with 
Oberlin.  Every  question  with  him  was  a  sub- 
ject for  prayer,  and  this  one  as  yet  had  never 
come  under  his  prayerful  consideration.  Ober- 
lin had  never  visited  the  home  of  the  intended 
lady  and  appears  not  even  to  have  known  her 
by  sight.  On  this  occasion  he  prayed  that  God 
would  be  pleased  to  reveal  his  will  to  him,  and  to 
direct  him  in  his  judgment  whether  the  proposed 

60 


MAKING  A  HOME 

marriage  would  be  for  his  happiness  and  useful- 
ness or  not  by  the  manner  in  which  he  should 
be  received.  He  did  not  realize  the  presumption 
in  that  he  himself  should  decide  in  advance  what 
the  sign  of  divine  approbation  was  to  be.  He 
resolved  that  if  the  mother  should  herself  make 
the  proposition  he  would  regard  it  as  a  sign  of 
the  divine  will  that  he  was  to  go  ahead;  but 
if  she  did  not,  he  should  consider  it  his  duty  to 
draw  off  without  mentioning  the  subject.  A  day 
was  appointed  for  the  visit,  and  the  mother  of 
the  young  lady  in  question,  who  had  been  in- 
formed of  his  coming,  was  waiting  to  receive 
him.  Oberlin  reached  the  widow's  door  in  due 
season  and  rang  the  bell.  He  was  received 
courteously,  and  the  young  lady  soon  came  in  and 
was  introduced.  A  general  conversation  began 
in  the  customary  terms,  and  when  all  the  ordi- 
nary commonplaces  seemed  to  have  been  ex- 
hausted, the  situation  became  embarrassing. 
Oberlin  waited  for  the  providential  indication 
which  he  had  determined  upon,  but  there  was 
no  sign.  In  dead  silence  the  parties  looked  at 
one  another,  each  waiting  for  the  other  to  in- 
timate in  some  way  the  purpose  of  the  inter- 
view. As  the  increasing  embarrassment  became 
somewhat  serious  Oberlin  made  his  decision,  and 

61 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

with  the  customary  courtesies  withdrew,  leaving 
mother  and  daughter  without  explanation,  as  if 
he  had  simply  dropped  in  to  make  a  pleasant  call. 
This  was  the  conclusion. 

Oberlin  was  doubtless  right  in  his  belief  that 
faith  had  its  place  in  questions  of  this  kind  as 
in  all  questions,  but  in  this  case  faith  ended  with 
sight.  Probably  any  youth  in  search  of  a  wife 
would  naturally  conclude  that  the  divine  will  was 
in  the  negative  when  he  found  that  the  young 
lady  did  not  particularly  attract  him. 

It  may  be  said  that  Oberlin's  mother  was  "  cast 
down,  but  not  destroyed."  She  knew  well  that 
she  had  a  good  son  who  would  make  a  good 
husband,  provided  he  could  once  be  secured  in 
the  matrimonial  net.  Her  next  tentative  began 
with  an  amiable  daughter  of  a  former  tutor  of 
Oberlin.  The  tutor  knew  and  highly  appreciated 
Oberlin's  character  and  work,  and  in  this  case 
the  young  man  was  attracted  to  the  young  lady. 
The  marriage  contract  was  drawn  up.  Mean- 
while, however,  a  suitor  who  was  wealthy  pre- 
sented himself  with  such  urgency  and  success  that 
the  temporary  eclipse  of  Oberlin  followed,  and 
the  young  lady,  after  many  hesitations,  withdrew 
from  her  engagement  with  him.  After  a  few 
weeks  she  repentingly  felt  that  she  had  done  this 

62 


MAKING  A  HOME 

unwisely,  and  a  note  was  written  by  her  father 
to  Oberlin  expressing  their  regret  for  her  mis- 
take and  intimating  his  desire  that  the  former 
relations  should  be  renewed.  On  the  receipt  of 
the  note  Oberlin  at  once  proceeded  to  the  resi- 
dence, and  returned  the  note,  saying:  "  My  dear 
sir,  I  am  accustomed  to  follow  the  intimations 
of  providence,  and  from  what  has  recently  oc- 
curred I  am  assured  that  a  union  with  your 
daughter  would  promote  neither  her  happiness 
nor  mine.  Let  us  therefore  forget  what  is  past, 
and  let  me,  as  of  old,  share  your  affection  as 
though  no  overtures  had  been  made/' 

This  second  experience  ended  in  a  manner 
more  creditable  than  the  first,  but  not  less  than 
the  first  indicates  Oberlin's  characteristic  of  faith 
and  decisiveness. 

Here  ended  the  mother's  endeavors  to  secure 
for  her  son  a  fitting  companion.  The  question 
was  settled,  but  Oberlin  was  not.  His  mother, 
however,  could  not  consent  to  her  son's  depar- 
ture alone.  She  accompanied  him  to  Waldbach, 
settled  him,  unwived,  and  left  his  younger  sister 
Sophia  in  charge  of  his  new  home.  Busy  with 
the  beginnings  of  his  self-denying  life  among  his 
poor  people,  he  had  neither  time  nor  inclination 
to  turn  his  thoughts  to  any  further  experiments 

63' 


JOHN   FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

looking  to  matrimony.  Sister  Sophia  was  all  that 
his  heart  could  wish  in  making  a  home  a  sacred 
refuge  from  his  cares. 

Nevertheless,  .in  that  remote  and  lonely  place 
it  was  to  be  expected  that  this  sister  Sophia 
would  have  many  lonely  hours,  accustomed  as 
she  was  to  Strasburg  life;  and  when  a  year  had 
been  spent  in  this  way  she  induced  her  intimate 
friend,  Mile.  Madeline  Witter,  after  a  somewhat 
serious  illness,  to  visit  her  and  try  the  bracing 
mountain  air  for  recuperation ;  this  rather  against 
the  preferences  of  Oberlin.  Mile.  Witter,  who 
was  related  to  Oberlin  on  her  mother's  side,  was 
the  daughter  of  a  former  professor  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Strasburg,  but  had  lost  both  of  her  parents 
at  an  early  age.  She  was  now  a  well-educated 
city  girl,  with  far  more  expensive  habits  than 
were  approved  by  Oberlin,  of  great  charm  of 
manner  and  liveliness  of  disposition. 

Oberlin's  severe  views  of  life  and  the  nature 
of  his  work  were  such  that  the  gaiety  of  the 
visit  was  not  altogether  agreeable  to  him,  and 
he  lost  no  occasion  to  express  in  a  kindly  way 
his  little  disagreements  with  her  apparently  less 
serious  attitudes  of  thought  and  feeling.  Mile. 
Witter  met  his  ironies  with  happy  rejoinders; 
quick  of  wit,  she  was  not  second  to  him  in 


MAKING  A  HOME 

repartee,  and  while  neither  of  them  thought  it, 
they  were  coming  to  appreciate  and  enjoy  each 
other  in  their  perfect  independence  of  opinions 
and  ability  to  defend  them.  Then  came  an  indi- 
cation to  Oberlin  (shall  we  call  it  providential?) 
such  as  he  had  not  distinctly  prayed  for,  that 
this  gay,  witty,  charming  young  woman  would 
be  a  delightful  companion,  a  real  comrade  in  life. 
As  soon  as  he  realized  this  he  determined  to 
resist  the  growing  intimacy,  giving  to  himself 
as  reasons  her  joyous  temperament,  her  over- 
elegant  toilet,  and  her  worldly  habits.  Nor  was 
he  unmindful  of  the  declaration  he  had  often 
heard  her  make,  that  she  "  would  never  marry 
a  clergyman."  The  visit  continued  for  some 
weeks,  every  day  of  them  weaving  the  toils 
closer  about  them  both.  Oberlin,  in  his  jour- 
nal, confesses  the  conquest  that  had  been  made 
and  recorded  "two  sleepless  nights." 

While  providence  continued  the  intimations  in 
this  unsolicited  way,  the  time  came  when  the 
young  lady's  immediate  departure  was  at  hand. 
Repeatedly  seeking  divine  guidance,  the  young 
pastor  looked  for  signs  to  indicate  God's  will. 
It  is  recorded  that  he  solemnly  declared  to  God 
that  if  he  would  give  him  a  sign,  he  would  act 
accordingly.  The  only  sign  which  came  was  "  an 
5  65 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

inner  voice  that  seemed  to  repeat,  '  Take  her  for 
your  wife.' '  He  replied  to  himself,  "  But  it  is 
impossible;  our  dispositions  and  our  tastes  are 
so  dissimilar,"  and  the  inner  voice  reiterated, 
"  Take  her  for  your  wife."  That  the  wish  was 
father  to  the  voice  is  clear  enough.  The  voice 
was  as  evidently  a  real  one.  It  was  the  voice 
of  his  own  heart,  though  Oberlin  did  not  then 
so  interpret  it. 

He  decided  at  last  that  this  indeed  was  the 
intimation  of  providence,  and  then  he  lost  no 
time  in  obeying  the  divine  will.  It  was  a  glad 
obedience.  •  He  sought  the  lady  under  the  shade 
of  a  tree  which  still  stands  in  the  garden,  and 
how  his  declaration  has  come  down  to  us  in 
words  I  know  not,  but  his  original  biographer 
and  friend,  who  was  assisted  by  Oberlin' s  daugh- 
ter in  handing  down  the  romance,  writes  that 
Oberlin  said :  "  You  are  about  to  leave  us,  my 
dear  friend,  but  I  have  had  an  intimation  that 
you  are  destined  by  divine  will  to  be  the  partner 
of  my  life.  If  you  will  resolve  upon  this  step, 
so  important  to  us  both,  I  expect  you  will  give 
me  your  candid  opinion  about  it  before  your 
departure." 

Let  us  hope  that  his  biographer  and  friend  did 
not  get  correctly  all  that  was  said  on  this  occa- 

66 


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MAKING  A  HOME 

sion,  even  if  the  young  missionary  may  have 
been  enabled  to  interweave  these  words  into 
his  declaration.  We  know  that  Oberlin  was 
accustomed  to  enter  in  his  diary  his  daily 
thoughts,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  in  the  cool 
of  the  evening,  with  his  pen  in  hand,  in  the 
mental  reaction  after  such  an  experience,  he 
thought  that  he  made  these  identical  remarks. 
At  all  events  we  may  be  sure  that  he  asked  this 
sweet  girl,  who  had  abundant  humor  and  a  sense 
of  the  ridiculous,  to  share  his  life  in  such  a  way 
that  she  did  not  laugh  at  its  putting,  and  with- 
out concealing  from  her  that  a  life  of  sacrifice, 
solitude,  and  poverty  went  with  it.  The  young 
woman  did  not  need  time  to  find  out  what  might 
be  the  providential  intimations  for  herself.  Her 
heart  was  already  in  Oberlin's  ownership;  she 
arose,  placed  one  hand  before  her  eyes,  and  with- 
out a  word  spoken  held  out  the  other  toward 
him.  He  clasped  it  in  his  own,  and  there  is 
no  record  beyond  this. 

Oberlin  never  doubted  after  that  that  the  in- 
timation came  from  heaven;  and  assuredly  it 
did.  Their  marriage  followed  soon,  July  6,  1768, 
and  Sophia  and  not  Madeline  was  the  one  who 
returned  to  live  at  Strasburg.  This  happy  matri- 
mony was  not  in  accord  with  the  conventional 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

mode  formally  arranged  by  parents,  but  it  was 
a  true  love  marriage.  In  Oberlin's  records  we 
see  what  an  invaluable  assistant  she  became  to 
her  husband  in  his  indefatigable  labors,  temper- 
ing his  zeal  with  her  prudence  and  forwarding 
his  plans  by  her  wise  cooperation.  The  qualities 
which  she  possessed  he  needed,  and  they  made 
her  influence  of  the  greatest  value.  She  well 
fulfilled  her  part  in  the  endeavors  for  the  better- 
ment of  these  poor  people,  identifying  herself 
with  all  that  concerned  her  husband's  vocation, 
cheerfully  meeting  his  every  consecration  to  the 
work  of  God  with  an  equal  one  of  her  own. 
When  the  infant  schools  were  started,  she  set 
the  example  for  others  in  teaching.  When  the 
women  of  the  parish  were  unwilling  to  learn  to 
spin  cotton  in  order  to  help  the  household  earn- 
ings, which  practise  Oberlin  introduced,  his  wife 
took  the  new  industry  in  hand  and  led  them  on 
to  the  profits  of  it. 

A  quotation  from  a  letter  of  Oberlin's  well 
illustrates  her  spirit.  A  school  had  been  opened 
at  Dessau  in  Germany  which  had  greatly  inter- 
ested Oberlin.  He  considered  it  in  its  methods  the 
model  school  of  Germany.  One  of  the  profes- 
sors there  received  a  letter  from  Oberlin  which 
said :  "  How  I  would  like  to  spend  weeks  near 

68 


MAKING  A  HOME 

you,  to  see  and  learn  everything  and1  return  to 
the  Ban-de-la-Roche  to  make  this  place  in  the 
mountains  worthier  by  your  knowledge!  While 
reading  your  book  with  my  wife  we  were  saying, 
'  Why  do  we  not  have  some  of  the  money  which 
is  so  useless  in  some  hands  ?  '  We  looked  around 
to  see  if  we  could  discover  anything  convertible 
into  money.  Suddenly  my  wife,  beaming  with 
joy,  brought  me  a  pair  of  earrings,  asking  to 
have  them  sent  to  aid  your  philanthropic  insti- 
tution. They  cost  her  before  marriage  thirty 
florins.  You  can  imagine  how  pleased  I  was. 
If  the  publication  of  my  good  little  wife's  name 
can  influence  others  to  follow  her  example,  we 
cheerfully  consent  to  it.  Perhaps  it  may  induce 
some  other  people  to  make  researches  in  their 
jewel  boxes."  Oberlin's  life  was  both  richer  and 
stronger  for  this  happy  union,  and  his  work 
from  its  beginning  to  its  close  bears  the  impress 
of  her  loving  and  beautiful  character. 


V 
A  ROAD  TO  CIVILIZATION 


V 

A   ROAD   TO   CIVILIZATION 
(1771-1773) 

THE  schools  had  been  organized  and  sup- 
plied with  teachers;  the  next  step  in 
civilization  was  to  connect  the  almost 
inaccessible  villages  with  the  movements  of  life 
in  the  outside  world.  The  people  had  been  so 
long  in  their  wretched  condition  that  they  were 
quite  content  to  remain  in  it  without  disturbance. 
They  never  had  made  roads,  and  had  no  wish 
to  begin  now.  It  was  more  difficult  to  enlist  the 
sympathy  of  generous  givers  in  Strasburg,  and 
others  outside  of  the  mountain  districts,  for  mate- 
rial improvement  than  it  was  to  secure  help  to 
relieve  wants  which  were  mental  and  spiritual. 
Oberlin  could  scarcely  expect  to  appeal  to  philan- 
thropists for  aid  to  blast  rocks  and  to  build 
bridges.  Nevertheless,  without  roads  the  people 
must  continue  in  extreme  poverty.  There  would 
be  no  market  for  their  produce,  even  if  they 

73 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

should  undertake  to  raise  it.  Nor  was  there  any 
encouragement  for  them  to  introduce  improve- 
ments in  agriculture.  During  the  greater  por- 
tion of  the  year  the  traveled  ways  which  they 
called  roads  could  not  be  used  on  account  of 
landslides  and  mountain  torrents. 

First  of  all,  the  road  to  Rothau,  the  highway 
to  Strasburg,  needed  to  be  made  safe  for  con- 
stant communication.  It  was  now  little  more 
than  a  by-path,  and  the  river  Bruche,  which  was 
a  torrent  when  snows  melted  and  the  streams 
were  swollen,  at  such  times  could  not  be  crossed. 
A  safe  road  for  all  seasons  meant  that  a  solid 
wall  of  stone  for  nearly  a  mile  and  a  half  along 
the  Bruche  should  be  constructed  with  a  per- 
manent bridge  across  it  at  the  foot  of  the  hill. 

When  Oberlin  made  known  his  plan  to  the 
people,  there  were  no  words  in  their  vocabulary 
to  even  partially  express  their  amazement.  If 
he  had  suggested  a  step-ladder  to  the  moon,  they 
would  not  have  been  more  astonished.  What- 
ever deprecatory  adjectives  were  in  their  posses- 
sion were  freely  used  in  their  characterization 
of  such  an  impossible  scheme.  The  preacher  was 
altogether  out  of  his  sphere.  They  positively  re- 
fused to  sustain  him.  His  vocation  was  preach- 
ing. Why  should  he  come  to  them  with  exhor- 

74 


A  ROAD  TO  CIVILIZATION 

tations  for  roads  and  masonry?  Without  regard 
for  his  feelings  or  judgment  they  said:  "No; 
we  will  not  have  it.  Our  pastor  may  as  well 
understand  this  now  as  ever ! "  This  much  and 
more  was  the  answer  to  Oberlin's  plan  for  good 
roads. 

Ignorant  people  are  never  more  obstinate  in 
ignorance  than  when  any  attempt  is  made  to 
improve  upon  practises  which  have  gained  the 
adherence  of  generations  and  which  they  have 
inherited.  It  would  have  been  an  appropriate 
time  for  a  less  determined  man  to  have  tendered 
his  resignation.  The  irresistible  force  had  evi- 
dently run  against  an  immovable  object.  Ober- 
lin  did  not  propose  to  run  away  from  difficulties. 
This  was  one  thing  that  he  did  not  know  how 
to  do.  He  knew  that  he  was  needed  in  Ban- 
de-la-Roche,  whether  he  was  wanted  or  not. 
He  was  there  to  stay.  He  was  there  to  accom- 
plish. The  parishes  could  not  starve  him  out, 
for  he  knew  how  to  starve. 

"  The  road  must  be  made,"  he  said.  "  It  would 
be  useless  even  if  it  were  made,"  they  replied, 
"  for  we  could  not  get  across  the  stream  when 
it  is  full  any  better  than  now."  He  replied, 
''  We  will  use  the  rocks  which  we  blast  in  mak- 
ing the  road  for  abutments  and  throw  a  bridge 

75 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

across/'  Their  lack  of  faith  in  roads  was  mar- 
velous, but  the  proposition  to  bridge  their 
mountain  streams  utterly  confounded  them.  It 
confirmed  them  in  the  conclusion  that  their  pas- 
tor was  an  unsafe  man  to  follow.  Such  a  de- 
parture from  the  old  paths  evidently  showed 
them  not  only  the  danger  of  theological  studies, 
but  a  capacity  also  for  speculative  views  that 
would  halt  at  nothing.  If  their  preacher  was 
to  persist  in  these  new  notions,  he  must  do  it 
alone. 

Stuber  had  characterized  them  as  "  an  iron- 
headed  people,"  and  Oberlin  felt  that  they  were. 
All  the  more  they  needed  him,  and  though  their 
conduct  was  disquieting,  it  had  not  the  least 
effect  upon  his  purpose.  After  the  matter  had 
been  discussed  and  sufficiently  considered,  and 
Oberlin  had  preached  on  the  Lord's  Day  with  his 
usual  earnestness  from  the  text,  "  There  remain- 
eth  therefore  a  rest  to  the  people  of  God,"  the 
people  with'  unspeakable  astonishment  saw  their 
pastor,  bright  and  early  Monday  morning,  with 
a  pick  on  his  shoulder,  accompanied  by  three  or 
four  who  were  loyal  to  him,  passing  through  the 
village  to  begin  the  road-making.  Their  wonder 
grew  when  they  saw  him  at  work,  picking  and 
digging  and  shoveling  away  stones  that  he  could 

' 


A  ROAD  TO  CIVILIZATION 

not  lift  with  his  hands.  There  was  manhood 
enough  among  his  people  to  assert  itself  after 
such  an  appeal  as  this.  It  was  an  illustration 
of  applied  Christianity  altogether  new  to  them, 
and  it  was  immediately  followed  by  a  great 
revival  of  practical  religion  in  the  village.  The 
next  day  a  score  were  working  with  him,  the 
next  day  following  fifty,  until  by  the  time  they 
had  reached  the  stream  there  were  no  doubters; 
all  believed  in  good  roads,  and  always  had.  Prob- 
ably the  last  man  to  join  the  majority  went  home 
and  told  his  wife  that  the  original  idea  was  his 
own,  and  that  he  would  have  proposed  it  to 
Oberlin  but  for  the  conviction  that  ministers 
ought  to  confine  themselves  to  the  gospel  and 
let  the  labor  question  alone.  If  so,  it  may  be 
that  the  trusting  soul  believed  him.  I  find  no 
record  of  this  hypothetical  man,  but  he  must 
have  been  there  —  he  always  is  —  and  there  could 
scarcely  have  been  an  exception  in  this  case  to 
the  ordinary  experience  of  late  comers  in  suc- 
cessful reforms. 

Oberlin,  as  if  he  had  been  a  contractor  from 
his  youth  up,  assigned  to  each  individual  an 
allotted  post  and  gave  personal  instruction  and 
direction  on  every  side.  He  did  not  fail  to  select 
the  most  difficult  places  for  himself  and  seemed 

77 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

regardless  of  the  thorns  and  loose  stones  which 
bruised  his  hands. 

With  such  courage  and  patience  difficulties  were 
removed  as  the  rocks  and  gravel  were.  The 
demonstration  of  successful  work  brought  re- 
newed appreciation  and  aid  from  friends  in  Stras- 
burg,  and  in  the  end  a  fine  road  was  completed 
along  the  course  of  the  Bruche.  Streams  which 
often  inundate  the  highways  were  guided  into 
channels  made  to  receive  them  and  a  wooden 
bridge  was  constructed.  Replaced  later  by  stone, 
it  still  bears  the  name  then  given  it,  "Le  Pont 
de  la  Charite." 

Thirty  years  after  this,  Oberlin  received  a 
letter  from  the  mayor  of  Rothau,  stating  that 
he  saw  the  bridge  needed  repairs  and  requesting 
that  the  necessary  funds  should  be  put  to  that 
use.  The  reply  of  the  man  whose  experience 
is  above  related  is  characteristic: 

SIR,  THE  MAYOR,  —  The  bridge  —  the  poor  orphan 
bridge  —  is  named  "  Bridge  of  Charity,"  because  after 
several  accidents  charity  built  it ;  and  until  now  charity 
has  maintained  it.  There  are  no  other  funds  which 
exist  for  this  object. 

May  God  be  with  you,  Sir,  the  Mayor,  and  direct 

Yours, 

JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN. 

78 


VI 

CALL   TO   AMERICA 


VI 

CALL   TO    AMERICA 

(1775) 

SEVEN  years  had  passed  in  this  missionary 
work  of  laying  foundations  for  better  ways 
of  living  and  better  lives  in  improved  con- 
ditions when  Oberlin  was  startled  by  another 
missionary  question  as  unexpected  as  his  first, 
and  which  asked  of  him  a  still  greater  sacrifice. 
A  colony  of  German  Protestants  from  Saltz- 
burg  in  Austria,  who  had  chosen  exile  instead 
of  the  surrender  of  their  faith,  had  located  in  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania  and  had  given  the  Scrip- 
tural name  of  "  Ebenezer  "  to  their  settlement. 
Early  in  their  history  in  this  new  country  their 
pastor  and  leader  had  died,  and  they  had  ap- 
pealed to  a  distinguished  theologian  at  Augs- 
burg to  secure  for  them  a  successor.  Already 
Oberlin's  missionary  successes  were  becoming 
known  to  many,  notwithstanding  his  remoteness 
from  observation,  and  the  choice  of  a  leader  for 

6  Si 


JOHN   FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

this  far-away  ministry  settled  upon  this  devoted 
pastor  in  the  mountains.  He  was  urged  to  take 
the  direction  of  the  colony  in  America  and  do 
for  it  what  he  had  been  doing  for  the  moun- 
taineers of  the  Vosges.  The  call  of  the  people 
exiled  for  faith's  sake  appealed  deeply  to  his 
sympathies.  The  colony  in  Ebenezer,  with  a 
prospective  large  development,  seemed  to  offer 
him  a  wider  scope  for  his  missionary  zeal.  He 
submitted  the  question  to  his  wife,  then  in  deli- 
cate health.  Her  ready  response  was,  "  Where 
thou  goest,  I  will  go,"  and  notwithstanding  Ober- 
lin's  deep  interest  in  his  present  charge,  this 
seemed  to  him  the  call  of  God. 

Letters  to  his  brother  and  his  mother,  which 
follow,  appear  to  have  been  written  under  much 
stress  of  feeling,  and  evidently  are  replies  to  their 
appeals  to  dissuade  him,  and  to  have  him  recon- 
sider his  intention.  He  prefaced  the  first  with 
these  lines: 

"  Ich  will  dir  einen  Alter  bauen 
Der  Ebenetzer  heissen  soil, 
Drauf  soil  man  diese  Worte  schauen : 
Gott  fuhret  seine  Kinder  wohl." l     • 

1  "  To  Thee  will  I  build  an  altar; 
Ebenezer  shall  be  its  name, 
Thereupon  shall  be  seen  these  words: 
God  guides  his  children  well." 
82 


CALL  TO  AMERICA 

BEST  AND  DEAREST  OF  BROTHERS,  —  However  great 
the  sorrow  I  feel  at  the  very  thought  of  leaving  you 
and  our  dear  mother,  I  must  nevertheless  abide  by  my 
determination,  to  which  neither  my  wife  nor  myself 
have  been  brought  by  any  human  influence.  The  fact 
that  every  one  stands  for  or  against  a  deed  cannot 
decide  a  question  of  conscience.  By  baptism  I  have 
contracted  an  alliance  with  a  Master  who  knows  more 
than  I  and  is  more  powerful,  who  has  adopted  me  as 
his  son,  who  wishes  to  be  my  father,  but  who  demands, 
with  filial  love  and  devotion,  obedience  and  submission. 
...  I  have  begged  God  since  my  early  youth  to  be 
my  guide  always,  to  make  me  always  see  his  will  and 
make  me  docile  and  faithful.  He  has  done  it,  and  I 
have  not  been  deceived  in  my  expectations  from  him. 
...  In  a  multitude  of  cases  I  have  been  able  to  notice 
his  special  leadership.  Whenever  I  was  undecided  as 
to  what  to  do,  I  called  upon  him  for  counsel,  and  it 
was  always  granted  me  in  some  way  or  other;  con- 
sidering which  I  should  be  a  most  ungrateful  and 
shameless  being  if  despite  the  countless  fulfilment  of 
his  promises  I  wished  suddenly  to  turn  away  from 
him  and  make  my  decision  influenced  by  purely  worldly 
interests,  by  my  own  convenience  or  the  advice  of 
men. 

It  is  demanded  of  a  man  of  honor  that  he  act  after 
his  own  most  sincere  convictions.  In  my  eyes  I  would 
be  unworthy  of  being  your  brother  did  I  wish  to  act 
otherwise,  even  if  the  persons  who  are  wrongly  thought 
to  have  been  the  cause  of  my  resolution  were  of  an 
entirely  different  opinion. 

83 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

I  did  tell  myself  at  first  that  God  is  blessing  my 
undertaking  in  this  land,  and  that  the  good  that  I  might 
do  in  Ebenezer  is  uncertain.  But  who  am  I  then  to 
have  the  right  to  argue  thus  in  opposition  ?  Does  not 
the  Lord  himself  know  where  to  place  his  servants  for 
the  greatest  good  of  his  cause?  Must  I  then  adore 
God  with  my  lips  only,  adding  to  the  number  of  those 
who  know  only  how  to  say,  "  Lord,  Lord ;  "  but  if 
I  desire  to  adore  him  by  doing  his  will,  why  should 
I  not  go  according  to  his  voice? 

As  soon  as  I  had  received  the  letter  in  which  was 
the  question  of  this  call,  I  did  what  I  always  do  in 
doubtful  cases.  With  entire  confidence  in  his  promises 
I  addressed  myself  to  God  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ, 
to  beg  him  ardently  to  do  what  he  has  already  done 
many  times  for  me,  and  to  let  me  know  whether  I  must 
say  Yes  or  No.  My  wife,  to  whom  I  had  given  this 
letter  containing  the  call  —  withdrawing  without  say- 
ing a  word  —  did  the  same,  and  we  both  to  our  mutual 
surprise  soon  came  to  the  profound  conviction  that 
we  must  say  "  Yes,  Lord ;  here  we  are." 

I  know  only  too  well  that  many  persons  do  not  know 
the  power  of  prayer;  but  I  also  know  that  it  is  not 
because  of  any  lack  of  clear  and  definite  promises,  nor 
of  any  lack  of  God's  faithfulness.  If  then  it  be  the 
will  of  God,  as  it  is  our  conviction,  all  other  consider- 
ations must  disappear. 

Jesus  is  the  sovereign  shepherd  of  the  flock  at  Ban- 
de-la-Roche,  and  always  will  be,  and  will  know  how 
to  give  it  every  time  the  one  who  is  suited  for  it  for 
a  subordinate  pastor. 


CALL  TO  AMERICA 

If  he  wishes  us  to  serve  him  at  Ebenezer,  he  who 
holds  the  world  in  his  hands  will  certainly  find  the 
means  to  make  us  come  there;  and  if  we  are  to  die 
there,  he  will  surely  know  on  the  day  of  resurrection 
how  to  find  the  place  where  he  shall  have  entrusted 
us  to  the  sleep  of  death. 

I  know  well  that  our  intentions  and  resolutions  are 
regarded  by  many  as  fanatical  enthusiasm.  But  what 
would  it  matter  if  they  were  to  see  this  in  our  whole 
conduct  ?  It  is  enough  that  I  know  that  I  seek  earnestly 
to  make  my  thoughts  and  actions  conform  to  the  holy 
word  which  I  preach.  If  people  allow  themselves 
some  jests  at  our  expense,  we  are  reassured  by  the 
words  of  the  Holy  Scripture,  "  Whosoever  therefore 
shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I  confess  also 
before  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  Besides,  we 
are  fortified  by  other  passages  like  this :  "  Not  every 
one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven;  but  he  that  doeth  the  will 
of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  "  He  that  loveth 
father  or  mother  more  than  me  is  not  worthy  of 
me."  ...  I  must  end.  Will  you  ask  me  why  I  have 
gone  into  so  many  details?  Surely,  rather  more  for 
my  own  sake  than  for  yours,  dear  brother,  whose 
righteousness  I  know,  for  I  know  you  like  to  be  useful 
to  me,  and  you  can  be  in  this  case  by  communicating 
this  letter  to  all  those  who  regard  my  decision  from  a 
false  point  of  view. 

Farewell,  and  never  fail  to  love  less  than  you  have 
done  all  your  life  the  one  whom  you  have  loved  with 
the  most  ardent  and  changeless  affection,  though  he  be 

85 


JOHN   FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

on  the  other  hemisphere,  your  antipode,  nevertheless 
your  faithful  younger  brother, 

JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN,  Pastor. 
AUTUMN,  1774. 

In  the  letter  to  his  mother,  which  is  lengthy 
and  more  in  detail,  portions  strictly  relating  to 
his  family  experiences  are  omitted. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER,  —  Several  dear  friends  say  that 
in  my  letter  to  my  brother  I  have  failed  to  prove  that 
it  is  according  to  God's  will  that  I  should  go  to  Eben- 
ezer.  They  are  right.  All  that  I  wish  to  show  in  the 
letter  is  that  as  a  Christian,  I  could  answer  only  in  the 
affirmative  when  I  was  asked  if  I  were  willing  to 
accept  the  call.  I  know  that  it  does  not  necessarily 
follow  that  God  wishes  one  so  disposed  to  go. 

Oberlin  next  refers  to  the  changes  in  his  life 
plans  in  going  to  the  mountains  instead  of  taking 
the  army  chaplaincy,  saying,  "What  the  Lord 
wants  is  the  willing  heart."  He  continues : 

The  same  thing  can  happen  in  regard  to  Ebenezer. 
That  is,  I  cannot  prove  that  it  is  the  will  of  God  that 
I  should  go  there.  I  cannot  prove  it  until  I  am  there, 
or  at  least  until  I  am  on  the  way.  God  is  my  Father, 
and  all  I  have  to  do  is  to  go  where  he  tells  me,  like 
an  obedient  child.  This  is  what  I  have  tried  to  do  up 

86 


CALL  TO  AMERICA 

to  this  time.     I  still  think  that  I  must  reply  in  the 
affirmative  for  the  following  reasons : * 

Second.  Since  I  have  taken  a  more  direct  path  in 
the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  and  have  acquired  a  more 
special  knowledge  of  the  human  mind,  my  heart  has 
been  filled  with  pity  for  so  many  people,  blind  pagans, 
who  cost  our  Lord  the  same  sacrifice  as  we  others  in 
Strasburg  and  to  whom  it  has  not  even  been  given  to 
taste  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  our  table.  These  feel- 
ings have  inspired  me  to  help  such  as  much  as  lay 
within  my  power.  Strasburg  is  a  nursery  for  the 
clergy,  among  whom  there  are  many  excellent  men. 
How  different  it  is  in  Asia,  in  Africa,  and  in  America ! 
Our  Lord  taught  his  disciples  to  consider  humanity 
everywhere  as  the  hardest  field.  His  doctrines  form 
our  belief;  but  do  our  actions  respond  to  them?  Do 
we  work  with  the  ardor  Christianity  demands  for  the 
well-being  of  all  the  world?  How  many  excellent 
things  could  be  done,  how  many  thousands  of  souls 
could  enjoy  in  Jesus  Christ  the  blessings  which  have 
fallen  to  our  lot,  if  with  the  mind  of  Christ  we  em- 
braced a  larger  sphere  with  generous  effort!  These 
souls  abandoned  by  our  selfishness,  would  they  not 
then  fall  to  our  care?  How  many  times  have  I  prayed 
the  Lord  to  dispose  of  me,  and  of  the  children  he  might 
give  me,  and  to  make  use  of  us  where  according  to  his 
plans  we  would  be  the  most  useful!  Ebenezer  is  a 
German  and  Lutheran  parish,  but  there  are  in  its  near 
neighborhood  four  tribes  of  Indians  which  have  daily 

1  For  the  sake  of  brevity  the  first  reason,  which  has  been  al- 
ready given  in  the  letter  to  his  brother,  is  omitted. 

87 


JOHN   FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

connection  with  it.  One  meets  there,  moreover,  a  great 
number  of  wretched  Africans  who  serve  as  slaves. 

Third.  To  learn  languages  one  must  have  a  good 
memory;  mine  has  always  been  poor.  I  have  found 
it  difficult  to  acquire  languages  which  do  not  have 
analogy  with  the  German  or  Latin.  I  know  I  would 
meet  with  great  difficulty  in  learning  the  Indian  lan- 
guage sufficiently  well  to  be  able  to  give  instruction 
in  that  tongue,  but  I  could  do  much  good  indirectly 
in  forming  institutions  and  in  setting  up  schools  for 
young  negroes. 

Fourth.  The  poor  condition  of  the  parish  of  Eben- 
ezer  has  deeply  moved  me.  The  duties  of  a  pastor 
are  very  laborious  there.  The  plantations  are  separated 
from  one  another  by  considerable  distances.  The  roads 
are  bad  and  difficult  for  travel.  The  parish  in  this 
condition  is  like  an  orphan  since  the  death  of  their 
worthy  pastor,  Bolzius.  The  schools  need  to  be  re- 
formed, and  the  Ban-de-la-Roche  has  enabled  me  to 
acquire  some  knowledge  of  the  subject. 

I  could  also  profitably  use  the  experience  which  I 
have  acquired  here,  in  founding  at  Ebenezer  different 
establishments  for  their  material  and  temporal  devel- 
opment as  well  as  for  their  religious  and  spiritual 
necessities. 

Fifth.  The  parish  at  Waldbach  is  in  much  more 
fortunate  condition  than  that  of  Ebenezer.  It  has  now 
at  its  head  a  Protestant  lord  who  approves  and  en- 
courages the  improvements  already  made.  These  im- 
provements are  already  far  enough  advanced  for  a 
conscientious  successor  with  only  moderate  talents  to 

88 


CALL  TO  AMERICA 

continue.  Besides,  Ban-de-la-Roche  has  always  a  com- 
mander and  friend  in  Mr.  Stuber  who  will  not  cease 
giving  it  his  paternal  attachment.  .  .  . 

My  conscience  tells  me  that  I  pray  God  not  that  he 
may  let  me  stay  here,  nor  make  me  go,  but  only  that 
his  will  may  be  done,  and  that  his  kingdom  may  come, 
and  that  I  may  submit  entirely  to  his  order. 

I  am,  and  will  remain  till  death  and  after,  dear 
mother, 

Your  obedient, 

JOHN  FREDERIC. 
BEGINNING  1775 

Having  settled  the  question  in  his  own  mind, 
he  prepared  himself  with  great  care  for  his  mis- 
sion across  the  sea.  He  examined  geographies 
and  books  on  travel  such  as  he  could  secure  con- 
cerning America.  He  took  numerous  notes  and 
drew  up  a  plan  of  action  for  his  new  sphere  of 
activities.  In  anticipation  of  his  departure  he 
prepared  a  farewell  letter  to  his  parish,  intend- 
ing to  have  it  printed  in  a  little  booklet  as  a 
souvenir  and  sent  to  them  at  his  embarkment. 
To  communicate  across  the  sea  and  get  replies 
to  questions  necessary  to  perfect  the  arrange- 
ments required  time,  and  at  the  very  last,  when 
all  had  been  adjusted  and  Oberlin  was  ready 
for  departure,  word  came  from  America  that  war 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

between  the  States  and  the  mother  country  was 
imminent;  this  was  soon  followed  by  the  intel- 
ligence that  the  conflict  had  begun  in  earnest, 
and  was  active  in  the  very  State  to  which  he 
was  going,  and  that  his  ministry  would  be  liable 
to  the  interruptions  of  war.  Certainly  his  mis- 
sionary plans  for  education  and  development  in 
the  new  country  could  not  now  be  carried  out. 
It  was  plain  to  him  and  to  all  that  he  must  wait 
upon  the  issues  of  the  war,  —  a  sad  disappoint- 
ment, as  he  had  fully  consecrated  himself  to 
what  he  was  confident  was  the  will  of  God. 

The  farewell  letter,  here  translated,  found 
among  his  papers  after  his  death,  never  came 
to  the  knowledge  of  his  mountain  parish. 

To  THE  PARISHES  OF  WALDBACH  IN  THE  COUNTRY  OF  BAN- 
DE-LA-ROCHE  : 

MY  VERY  DEAR  BROTHERS,  BELOVED  PARISHIONERS, 
—  The  faithful  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  whose 
generous  care  we  owe  the  translation  and  printing  of 
this  handsome  booklet,  has  requested  me  to  dedicate 
it  to  you  and  say  my  last  farewell. 

What  satisfaction  it  is  to  me  to  be  able  again  to 
speak  to  you  by  writing,  now  that  I  can  no  longer  do 
it  by  mouth !  This  is  at  last  the  day  of  which  I  have 
spoken  to  you  so  many  times,  to  make  you  more  atten- 
tive to  what  I  have  preached  to  you  in  the  name  of 
my  Master. 

90 


CALL  TO  AMERICA 

The  day  of  our  separation!  With  what  peace  of 
mind  I  could  leave  you  if  I  knew  you  were  all  in  the 
hands  of  that  faithful  Saviour  from  whom  I  know  that 
neither  the  world  nor  the  power  of  hell  would  be  able 
to  snatch  you  away  —  unless  you  yourselves  separated 
yourselves  from  him! 

Oh,  hasten  yet,  you  who  have  neglected  up  to  this 
time  to  accept  him;  hasten  while  yet  your  hearts  are 
touched,  hasten  to  prostrate  yourselves  at  the  feet  of 
Jesus  your  Redeemer  and  beg  his  pardon  for  your 
sinful  disregard. 

Offer  your  hearts  to  him,  just  as  they  are;  supplicate 
him  to  change  them  and  make  them  such  as  he  wishes 
them  to  be. 

Never  forget  what  he  himself  has  said  and  caused 
his  faithful  apostles  to  say  —  which  I  have  often  re- 
peated to  you  —  that  one  cannot  be  saved  unless  he 
is  regenerated;  born  anew,  according  to  St.  John  3, 
and  animated  by  his  Spirit  (Rom.  8:9,  14)  ;  that  we 
must  be  united  to  him  as  the  branch  to  the  tree,  and 
continually  draw  from  him  the  strength  for  a  holy  life; 
that  all  we  do  out  of  harmony  with  him,  however  beau- 
tiful and  noble  it  may  appear  in  the  eyes  of  the  world 
—  honest  in  a  pagan  fashion  —  is  of  no  value  in  his 
eyes  because  the  motive  is  not  love  and  gratitude  toward 
him,  who  has  done  everything  for  our  salvation  and 
has  deserved  that  we  should  do  everything  for 
him,  and  for  the  advancement  of  his  kingdom.  St. 
John  xv. 

Oh,  my  dear  flock,  you  whom  the  sovereign  pastor 
has  deigned  to  entrust  to  me  now  for  eight  years,  I 

91 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

implore  you  attach  yourselves  to  the  divine  pastor  and 
never  to  men. 

Men  are  in  his  hands,  and  he  is  always  able  to  give 
you  good  faithful  workers  unless  through  lack  of  faith 
and  obedience  toward  him  you  render  yourselves  un- 
worthy of  it. 

The  Lord  of  the  harvest  now  calls  me,  contrary  to 
my  expectations,  far  from  you  to  guard  another  one 
of  his  flocks  which  has  cost  him  the  same  price  as 
you,  but  which  is  in  need  of  what  many  among  you 
have  held  in  too  slight  esteem ;  and  they  have  no  way 
to  meet  their  need. 

We  shall  be  separated  as  to  the  body,  but  I  hope  we 
shall  not  be  so  by  spirit.  I  have  always  tenderly  loved 
you.  I  love  you  still,  and  all  the  world's  treasures 
would  not  have  accomplished  what  the  command  of  my 
divine  Lord  has  done,  —  I  mean,  to  make  me  leave  you. 
But  I  shall  never  forget  you.  Oh,  do  not  forget  me 
either.  Do  not  forget  the  exhortations  and  words  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures  which  I  have  unceasingly  repeated 
to  you.  Do  not  forget  to  implore  God's  blessing  on 
the  discourses  which  I  shall  address  to  my  new  flock 
on  the  other  side  of  the  sea,  and  know  that  what  you 
shall  ask  of  the  Father  in  the  name  and  for  the  king- 
dom of  Jesus  he  will  grant  unto  you,  and  that  all  the 
blessings  he  will  grant  to  my  American  flock  because 
of  your  prayers  will  add  to  the  brilliancy  of  the  crowns 
you  have  won  by  your  zeal. 

Farewell  then,  dear,  my  most  dear  Parishes.  We 
shall  evidently  not  see  each  other  again  until  we  see 
each  other  before  the  throne  of  the  Lamb,  where,  filled 

92 


CALL  TO  AMERICA 

with  rapture  for  all  his  great  and  divine  goodness,  we 
will  give  eternal  praise,  honor,  and  thanksgiving  for 
all  unto  Him.  Amen. 

J.  F.  OBERLIN. 

WRITTEN  THIS  177- 

These  letters  represent  Oberlin's  thought,  feel- 
ing, and  expression  at  this  period  of  his  life.  It 
is  impossible  to  read  his  farewell  letter  without 
sharing  in  the  deep  disappointment  which  came 
to  him  in  the  relinquishment  of  what  he  sup- 
posed was  an  accomplished  fact.  The  colony 
at  Ebenezer  scattered  and  failed.  We  cannot 
know  what  might  have  been  its  history  with 
such  an  organizer  and  leader  as  Oberlin;  but 
it  was  proved  to  be  no  cause  for  regret  that 
it  was  God's  good  pleasure  that  he  should  re- 
main where  his  uncompleted  missionary  lessons 
should  not  be  interrupted. 

Oberlin  had  always  felt  the  deepest  interest 
in  America.  He  carefully  collected  from  every 
available  source  facts  about  the  country,  which 
he  kept  in  a  special  portfolio  made  by  himself 
for  the  purpose.  On  this  he  pasted  one  of  his 
printed  texts  —  such  as  he  distributed  when  he 
called  on  his  people  as  a  reminder  of  his  call 
and  the  date,  with  these  words:  "He  which 

93 


JOHN   FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

soweth  sparingly  shall  reap  also  sparingly;  and 
he  which  soweth  bountifully  shall  reap  also 
bountifully." 

When  it  became  known  beyond  the  mountains 
that  the  war  between  the  colonies  and  the  mother 
country  had  detained  Oberlin,  efforts  were  made 
to  detach  him  from  the  work  which  he  had 
proposed  to  surrender  by  offers  of  command- 
ing positions  from  several  churches,  but  disap- 
pointed as  he  was,  nothing  could  tempt  him 
from  missionary  service.  His  reply  to  an  in- 
fluential church  with  its  generous  salary  was, 
"  The  best  work  for  me  is  where  I  can  do  the 
most  good  with  the  least  recompense." 

From  that  time  he  bent  every  energy  to  the 
work  in  hand.  Baron  de  Dietrich,  lord  of 
the  district,  now  caused  the  church  at  Fouday, 
the  same  which  is  still  standing,  to  be  built  for 
Oberlin  without  expense  to  the  parish,  and  in 
many  ways  showed  his  appreciation  and  high 
esteem  for  the  good  missionary  who  was  bring- 
ing new  life  to  the  fief. 


94 


VII 

BEREAVEMENT  AND  RENEWED  CON- 
SECRATION TO  PUBLIC  WELFARE 


VII 

BEREAVEMENT  AND  RENEWED  CONSE- 
CRATION TO   PUBLIC  WELFARE 

(1784) 

IN  1784  the  death  of  his  beloved  wife  had  a 
most  powerful  influence  both  upon  the  direc- 
tion of  the  thoughts  and  feeling  of  Ober- 
lin  and  upon  the  whole  course  of  his  future. 
Nothing  had  prepared  Oberlin  for  his  bereave- 
ment. He  was  struck  as  by  a  thunderbolt,  and 
for  some  time  it  seemed  impossible  for  him  to 
recover  himself.  In  his  diary  we  read :  "  I 
prayed  the  Lord  continually  to  let  me  die  and 
be  buried  with  her.  God,  who  sent  this  terrible 
blow,  treated  me  with  great  kindness,  as  a  de- 
lirious patient  whom  one  seeks  to  recall  slowly 
to  his  senses."  At  length,  however,  after  an 
interval  of  melancholy  stupor,  as  he  recorded, 
"  I  experienced  the  merciful  assistance  of  God, 
notwithstanding  my  overwhelming  sorrow." 
From  that  time  no  complaint,  no  murmur  ever 
7  97 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

escaped  his  lips.  Every  day  he  seemed  to  walk 
in  communion  with  her  and  to  be  conscious  of 
her  .presence.  He  constantly  looked  forward  to 
the  time  when  they  should  be  reunited,  and  the 
desire  for  this  never  left  him  in  the  succeeding 
years.  More  than  ever  he  lived  as  a  citizen  of 
the  other  world.  He  never  ceased  to  believe  that 
his  wife  watched  over  him  and  daily  influenced 
him. 

The  management  of  his  household  and  the 
care  of  his  children  were  undertaken  by  Louise 
Schlepler,  who  had  come  as  a  teacher  and  who 
had  lived  in  the  Oberlin  household  for  eight 
years.  She  remained  in  this  capacity  as  a  friend 
rather  than  as  one  in  service  during  the  life  of 
Oberlin,  and  her  grave  is  beside  his  in  the 
churchyard  at  Fouday. 

Oberlin's  profound  sorrow  did  not  cause  him 
to  relax  his  efforts  for  the  redemption  of  his 
people;  he  rather  redoubled  them,  in  order 
that  he  might  be  found  faithful  when  the  mo- 
ment of  his  departure  from  this  life,  which  he 
longed  for,  should  arrive.  He  sought  to  use 
every  day  as  if  it  were  to  be  his  only  day. 
Realizing  that  all  permanent  advancement  of  the 
people  in  their  modes  of  life  depended  upon  their 
improvement  in  agriculture,  he  brought  to  this 


CONSECRATION    TO    PUBLIC    WELFARE 

end  every  stimulus  which  he  could  command. 
Organizing  an  agricultural  club,  he  presided  over 
it.  He  introduced  new  vegetables  and  gave  in- 
struction as  to  their  cultivation.  He  investigated 
with  the  greatest  care  the  nature  of  the  soil  and 
learned  what  it  was  adapted  to  produce.  By  the 
study  of  books  and  by  correspondence  he  sought 
the  most  improved  methods  of  culture  and  made 
careful  inquiries  as  to  the  best  productions  of 
similar  soil  and  climate  in  Europe.  He  procured 
flaxseed  from  Riga  on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic, 
and  clover-seed  from  Holland.  The  potato,  which 
had  been  previously  introduced  but  had  prac- 
tically failed  to  pay  for  its  planting,  was  thrown 
aside  and  a  new  and  excellent  kind  was  brought 
from  one  of  the  provinces  of  France. 

A  daughter  of  Oberlin  testifies :  "  The  cultiva- 
tion of  the  potato  was  rare  at  the  beginning  of 
my  father's  ministry.  As  in  other  places,  there 
was  fear  that  this  vegetable  might  be  hurtful. 
In  the  spring  the  ordinary  food  was  wild  herbs 
cooked  with  milk;  and  people  were  extremely 
embarrassed  if  their  neighbors  saw  the  potato 
used  as  a  food.  It  was  eaten  on  the  sly.  They 
were  always  careful,  if  any  one  entered  during  a 
meal,  to  cover  the  dish,  so  that  it  might  not  be 
known." 

99 


JOHN   FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

Giving  this  cultivation  of  the  potato  his  per- 
sonal care,  he  soon  saw  the  people  exporting 
from  their  successful  crop  to  the  people  in  the 
valleys.  New  grasses  also  were  procured.  Lec- 
tures were  given  upon  the  value  of  fertilizers, 
showing  the  people  how  to  collect  fertilizing 
material  and  how  to  apply  it;  how  to  drain 
their  meadows,  how  to  protect  them  from  the 
washings  of  mountain  torrents,  and  how  thus  to 
prevent  the  wasting  of  their  lands.  Much  waste 
land  was  in  this  way  brought  into  use  and 
enclosed. 

In  his  appeal  to  the  villages  for  the  irrigation 
of  their  fields,  which  came  to  be  done  with 
thoroughness  and  great  advantage,  he  makes  his 
scheme  a  religious  duty.  "  I  beg  all  those  who 
do  not  contribute  with  all  their  ability  and  in- 
fluence to  make  the  needful  arrangements  for 
a  just  and  brotherly  system  of  watering  the 
meadows,  to  consider  that  the  love  of  God  and 
of  one's  neighbor  is  the  sum  of  all  the  com- 
mandments." Many  of  their  grass-lands,  for 
lack  of  irrigation,  were  cultivated  to  so  little 
purpose  that  it  is  said  the  wife  could  carry  home 
in  her  apron  all  the  hay  her  husband  could  mow 
in  half  a  day.  He  urged  them  to  put  aside  their 
rude  agricultural  implements,  himself  buying 

100 


CONSECRATION    TO    PUBLIC    WELFARE 

better  and  more  modern  ones  from  Strasburg, 
to  be  paid  for  by  the  people  on  instalments. 

Never  was  there  a  more  practical  utilitarian 
in  missions.  Nothing  escaped  his  indefatigable 
attention.  Nothing  was  beneath  it.  His  ardor 
and  enthusiasm  were  only  surpassed  by  the  pa- 
tience and  prudence  which  he  used  in  inducing 
his  parishioners  to  adopt  his  suggestions.  No 
sooner  was  his  agricultural  club  at  work  than 
he  added  a  horticultural  society  and  began  to 
create  nurseries,  from  which  he  distributed  young 
plants,  selecting  the  trees  more  appropriate  for 
the  climate. 

But  with  all  the  religious  exhortation,  attached 
to  his  instructions  in  farming,  tree  planting,  and 
the  care  of  cattle,  he  never  lacked  those  who 
opposed  him  step  by  step.  They  could  not  under- 
stand how  a  man  born  and  bred  in  a  city  could 
get  any  wisdom  worth  their  consideration  along 
the  lines  of  their  own  experience.  They  had 
become  convinced  against  their  will  that  he  had 
discovered  something  about  road-making,  but 
that  he  should  presume  to  a  knowledge  above 
theirs  in  practical  farming,  the  care  of  land 
and  the  culture  of  it,  roused  resentful  objections 
continually.  Every  proposition  must  needs  be 
demonstrated  before  it  would  be  accepted. 

101 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

His  success  with  his  fields  and  fruit  trees  and 
garden  was  his  answer  to  their  questionings. 
Belonging  to  the  parsonage  were  two  barren 
fields  which  had  always  been  noted  for  the  poor- 
ness of  their  soil,  and  through  which  was  a 
much  frequented  thoroughfare.  His  agricul- 
tural neighbors  smiled  and  wagged  their  heads 
knowingly  when  their  parson  began  to  turn  this 
poor  land  into  a  nursery  of  fruit  trees,  in- 
tending to  make  it  an  orchard.  They  saw  him 
deeply  trench  the  ground  and  fill  it  with  suit- 
able soil.  Next,  he  procured  approved  scions  of 
apples,  pears,  cherries,  and  other  fruits.  His 
watch  and  care,  his  judicious  thinning  out  and 
pruning  upon  a  field  thought  to  be  unfit  for  any 
profitable  use,  brought  a  fruitful  orchard  in  a 
few  years  as  his  justification.  The  excellent 
fruits,  such  as  were  new  to  the  locality,  before 
the  eyes  of  all  the  passers-by  spoke  for  them- 
selves and  for  him.  With  all  their  inherited 
ideas  and  lack  of  ideas,  they  were  once  more 
convinced  that  Oberlin  knew  something  besides 
his  theological  certainties,  and  gradually  became 
more  willing  to  take  his  piety  and  practical  util- 
ity mixed1,  as  they  were  indeed  in  generous 
doses. 

So  earnest  was  Oberlin  in  the  material  better- 

102 


CONSECRATION    TO    PUBLIC    WELFARE 

ment  of  his  villages  that  his  steadfast  friend, 
Stuber,  in  Strasburg,  wrote  him  a  second  letter, 
warning  him  lest  his  regard  for  these  practi- 
calities should  crowd  upon  his  spiritual  duties. 
Oberlin  was  the  last  man  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  who  needed  that  caution!  It  was  this 
very  personal  contact  with  the  every-day  world 
and  his  interest  in  meeting  every-day  wants  that 
protected  him  from  a  natural  mysticism  and  from 
a  tendency  to  fanaticism.  These  duties  for  the 
neglected  poor  were  so  many  safety-valves  for 
his  fervent  spirit.  By  directing  his  zeal  and 
enthusiasm  from  that  which  is  purely  spiritual 
into  healthful  channels  and  engaging  his  extraor- 
dinary earnestness  in  ordinary  affairs,  his  bal- 
ance of  thought  and  feeling  were  preserved  and 
kept  sound.  All  that  he  did  and  urged  upon  his 
people  was  included  in  his  interpretation  of  the 
ministry  of  the  gospel.  Religious  motives  were 
underneath  all  his  instructions  and  plans,  and 
were  invariably  in  evidence.  In  his  directions 
for  irrigation,  for  example,  he  added,  "  Our  Lord 
died  for  us;  let  us  live  for  him,"  and  one  of 
the  rules  of  the  horticultural  society  was,  "  Each 
member  should  try  to  distinguish  himself  by 
Christian  conduct,  brotherly  kindness,  consider- 
ation, and  politeness  towards  his  fellows." 

103 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

Take,  for  example,  a  direction  to  his  people 
on  planting  trees,  sent  to  them  in  a  circular 
letter: 

DEAR  FRIENDS,  —  Satan,  the  enemy  of  mankind, 
rejoices  when  we  demolish  and  destroy.  Our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  on  the  contrary,  rejoices  when  we  labor 
for  the  public  good.  You  all  desire  to  be  saved  by 
him  and  hope  to  be  partakers  of  his  glory.  Please  him 
then  by  all  possible  means. 

He  is  pleased  when  from  a  principle  of  love  you 
plant  trees  for  the  public  benefit.  Now  is  the  season. 
Be  willing  then  to  plant  them.  Plant  them  also  in 
the  best  possible  manner.  Remember  that  you  do  it 
to  please  Him.  Put  all  your  roads  in  good  condition. 
Ornament  them.  Use  some  of  your  trees  for  this 
purpose  and  attend  to  their  growth. 

Another  circular,  curious  and  characteristic, 
reads : 

DEAR  FRIENDS  OF  FOUDAY,  —  Several  persons  at 
Zolbach  have  long  desired  that  the  road  between  Fou- 
day  and  Zolbach,  in  your  district,  should  be  mended 
and  put  in  good  repair.  Such  a  measure  would  be 
greatly  for  the  advantage  of  Fouday.  But  for  whose 
sake  will  you  do  it?  Will  you  do  it  from  love  to  your 
heavenly  Father?  Will  you  do  it  from  love  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  during  his  stay  upon  earth  went 
about  doing  good  and  who  redeemed  us  to  be  a  peculiar 
people  zealous  of  good  works?  Will  you  do  it  from 

104 


CONSECRATION    TO    PUBLIC    WELFARE 

love  to  God's  children  at  Zolbach?  Will  you  do  it 
from  a  compassion  to  the  animals  which  your  heavenly 
Father  has  created?  etc. 


Another  circular,  from  his  own  press,  asked 
these  questions  among  others :  "  Do  you  punc- 
tually contribute  your  share  towards  repairing 
roads?  Have  you  planted  upon  the  common  at 
least  twice  as  many  trees  as  there  are  heads  in 
your  family?  Have  you  planted  them  properly, 
or  only  as  idle  and  ignorant  people  would  do 
to  save  themselves  trouble?  Have  you  proper 
drains  in  your  yards  for  carrying  off  the  refuse 
water?  Do  you  keep  a  dog  unless  there  is  ab- 
solute necessity?"  Oberlin  was  thus  constantly 
reminding  the  people  of  their  daily  duties  as  a 
part  of  their  Christian  life. 

This  every-day  attention  to  schools,  to  parish 
work,  to  roads  and  lands  and  cattle  and  trees 
did  not  exhaust  his  plans.  When  he  entered 
upon  his  mission  there  was  not  a  mechanic  in 
the  entire  district.  He  set  the  example  in  this 
direction  with  a  workshop  of  his  own,  where  he 
had  a  turner's  lathe,  a  complete  set  of  carpen- 
ter's tools,  a  printing-press,  and  a  bookbindery. 
In  connection  with  his  schools  he  selected  those 
in  whom  he  discovered  mechanical  tastes  and 

105 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

had  them  trained  as  shoemakers,  blacksmiths, 
carpenters,  glaziers,  painters,  and  masons.  Such 
as  he  could  not  provide  with  instruction  at  home 
he  sent  to  Strasburg,  that  they  might  learn  their 
trades  and  return  to  teach  others;  and  greatly 
to  his  satisfaction,  he  succeeded  finally  in  induc- 
ing the  sons  of  a  prosperous  manufacturer  at 
Basle  in  Switzerland  to  establish  a  branch  of  their 
ribbon  factory  at  Fouday,  which  furnished  the 
young  women  of  the  villages  with  regular  and 
profitable  employment. 

One  reason  for  the  distressing  condition  of  the 
people  as  Oberlin  found  them  was  their  custom 
of  constantly  mortgaging  their  future,  always 
anticipating  their  scanty  crops,  which  kept  them 
in  peonage  because  of  their  debts.  It  was  a 
great  victory  over  established  thriftlessness  when 
he  succeeded  in  putting  an  end  to  this,  and  in 
getting  those  whose  lives  were  burdened  with 
special  obligations  square  with  the  world.  He 
did  not  cease  his  exhortations  to  this  end.  "  You 
are  not  living  Christian  lives  until  you  have  paid 
all  your  debts,  your  royal  and  your  feudal  taxes, 
the  weaver,  the  schoolmaster,  the  carpenter,  the 
nailmaker,  the  grocer,  the  workman,  all.  But  it 
is  not  enough  to  pay  one's  debts.  One  must 
avoid  making  others." 

106 


CONSECRATION    TO    PUBLIC    WELFARE 

Another  phase  of  his  wise  philanthropies  was 
his  organization  of  practical  charities.  "  The 
poor  ye  have  always  with  you,"  said  our  Lord; 
and  here,  while  many  were  rising  above  their 
extreme  poverty,  there  were  those  who  could  not, 
or  did  not,  succeed  in  getting  beyond  want.  The 
wolf  was  ever  at  their  door.  To  help  such 
Oberlin  organized,  presided  over,  and  directed  a 
"  Charity  Society,"  giving  it  his  personal  care, 
that  the  funds  raised  for  the  sick  and  infirm  and 
worthy  needy  ones  should  not  aid  or  encourage 
indolence  or  preventable  want;  and  he  was  very 
insistent  that  all  applications  should  have  most 
careful  investigation.  In  every  case  an  answer 
was  strictly  required  as  to  the  cause  of  the 
necessity.  Had  the  applicant  been  careful  to  live 
within  his  means?  Had  he  paid  his  debts  when 
he  could?  Had  he  contributed  to  the  relief  of 
his  fellow  parishioners  aforetime?  Had  he 
learned  to  practise  some  handicraft?  Had  his 
children  been  taught  at  school  to  work? 

Complaints  were  naturally  made  of  the  strict- 
ness of  some  of  his  conditions;  hence  attached 
to  the  interrogations  were  explanations  and 
reasons  for  them,  with  instructions  in  behalf 
of  the  industry  and  of  better  management  and 
prudence. 

107 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

Thus  his  work  went  on,  while  he  was  person- 
ally developing  agriculture;  personally  looking 
after  mechanical  industries;  personally  superin- 
tending clubs  and  organizing  charities,  with  reg- 
ular and  personal  visitations  from  house  to  house 
with  advice  and  counsel,  encouraging  the  people 
in  their  new  habits  of  industry  and  thrift. 
Meanwhile  the  poor  people,  whom  he  had  found 
in  physical  destitution  and  equally  poor  in  social 
life,  were  year  by  year  realizing  their  condition 
and  raising  their  standards  of  living.  They  were 
even  speaking  in  a  different  language.  Their 
rude  patois  of  Lorraine  dialect  with  its  strong 
guttural  had  given  way  in  all  the  younger  people 
to  a  pure  and  correct  French,  and  they  could 
write  it  accurately.  The  schools  were  well  taught. 
The  churches  had  thoughtful  attendants.  Good 
roads  had  taken  the  places  of  ways  that  were 
little  more  than  by-paths.  Farmers  were  no 
longer  without  suitable  tools  and  implements. 
Their  crops  were  rewarding  them.  There  were 
mechanics  capable  for  all  home  work  and  able 
to  take  apprentices.  More  than  all  in  this  varied, 
anxious,  increasing  care,  the  pastor  had  never 
neglected  his  study.  His  pulpit  preparation  was 
made  with  scrupulous  attention.  What  he  could 
not  do  by  day  he  did  while  others  slept.  This 

108 


CONSECRATION    TO    PUBLIC    WELFARE 

kind  of  sacrificial  life  had  now  gone  on  for 
twenty-two  years,  sixteen  of  which  were  shared 
with  his  most  noble  and  devoted  wife.  Great 
had  been  the  faith  and  patience  and  great  the 
toil.  Great  also  had  been  the  achievement  until 
now,  at  the  age  of  forty-nine  years,  came  a  new 
and  wider  experience. 


109 


VIII 
DURING  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 


ym 

DURING  THE   FRENCH   REVOLUTION 

(1789-1795) 

WHILE  Oberlin  was  devoting  himself 
to  the  immediate  interests  under  his 
eye,  the  French  Revolution  came. 
Louis  XV  had  left  to  his  successor  a  fierce  and 
deadly  hatred  among  the  suffering  French  people 
towards  the  throne  and  the  privileged  orders. 
His  scandalous  and  corrupt  misgovernment  had 
earned  for  him  the  contempt  as  well  as  the 
maledictions  of  his  subjects,  and  had  begotten  a 
criticism  of  all  existing  institutions,  political  and 
domestic.  The  agitation  was  felt  even  in  the 
remote  hills  of  the  Vosges. 

Jean  Jacques  Rousseau,  with  his  specious  air 
of  philanthropy,  was  developing  his  ideas  on  the 
reconstruction  of  society  with  the  charm  of  style 
which  was  particularly  attractive  to  the  French 
people,  but  which  was  subtly  undermining  the 
s  113 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

foundations  both  of  religion  and  of  government. 
The  court  and  privileged  orders,  given  over  to 
their  corrupt  pleasures,  were  too  blind  to  see  the 
signs  of  the  times. 

Louis  XVI  had  come  to  the  throne  at  the  time 
when  Oberlin  was  preparing  for  his  intended 
mission  in  the  New  World.  Louis  XV,  his  con- 
temptible predecessor,  bequeathed  to  him,  not 
only  the  impending  danger,  but  also  left  him 
totally  uninstructed  in  the  knowledge  of  govern- 
ment, the  affairs  of  state,  and  the  duties  of  his 
future  station.  Under  these  conditions  the  spirit 
of  lawlessness,  which  soon  manifested  itself  in 
the  cities,  became  insurrection  and  spread  rapidly 
into  the  provinces.  Peasants  declared  themselves 
against  landed  proprietors,  and  a  general  abro- 
gation of  the  ancient  feudal  constitution  and 
rights  which  had  obtained  for  many  centuries 
in  France  was  voted. 

The  French  Assembly  was  framing  a  new 
constitution,  which  was  to  abolish  privilege  and 
sweep  away  whatever  feudalism  still  existed.  The 
"  Declaration  of  the  Rights  of  Man,"  which  at 
this  time  appealed  to  the  French  people  and 
which  ranks,  as  Madame  de  Stael  wrote,  side 
by  side  with  the  "  English  Bill  of  Rights  "  and 
the  American  "  Declaration,"  in  the  times  which 

114 


DURING  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

followed  became  a  part  of  Oberlin's  experience 
and  history. 

He  had  all  the  youth  of  his  parishes  commit 
this  Declaration  of  Rights  to  memory.  Every 
week  they  were  to  recite  it  regularly: 

All  men  are  born  and  continue  free  and  equal  in 
rights.  Social  distinctions  are  purely  conventional. 

Society  is  an  association  to  preserve  the  natural 
rights  of  man. 

Sovereignty  resides  in  the  nation.  All  authority 
vested  in  an  individual  or  in  a  body  of  men  comes 
expressly  from  the  nation. 

Liberty  is  the  power  of  doing  what  we  will,  so  long 
as  it  does  not  injure  another;  the  only  limits  of  each 
man's  natural  rights  are  such  as  to  secure  the  same 
rights  to  others;  these  limits  are  determinable  only 
by  the  law. 

The  law  can  forbid  only  such  actions  as  are  mis- 
chievous to  society.  "  Quod  lex  non  vetat,  permittit." 

Law  is  the  expression  of  the  general  will;  all  citi- 
zens have  equal  rights  according  to  their  fitness  to 
fulfil  all  offices  in  the  state. 

Accusation,  arrest,  detention,  can  only  be  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  law. 

The  law  must  be  reasonable ;  it  must  have  no  retro- 
active force. 

Every  one  must  be  deemed  innocent  till  he  has  been 
convicted;  persons  under  arrest  on  suspicion  must 
therefore  be  treated  gently. 

All  men  are  free  to  hold  what  religious  views  they 

"5 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

will,  provided  they  are  not  subversive  to  the  public 
order. 

Freedom  of  speech,  of  writing  and  printing,  save 
in  cases  reserved  by  law,  is  one  of  the  most  precious 
of  the  rights  of  man. 

A  public  force  is  needed  to  guarantee  the  rights  of 
man. 

To  support  such  a  force,  a  common  contribution  is 
necessary,  which  is  to  be  equally  levied  on  all  citizens 
according  to  their  means. 

Society  has  a  right  to  demand  from  every  public 
servant  an  account  of  his  administration. 

Property  being  an  inviolable  and  sacred  right,  no 
one  can  be  deprived  of  it  save  when  public  necessity, 
legally  established,  demands  it,  and  then  only  with 
the  conditions  of  a  just  and  previously  determined 
indemnity. 

This  certainly  was  a  strong  dose  of  patriotism 
for  Oberlin's  young  people,  —  young  women  as 
well  as  young  men.  They  were  the  chief  prin- 
ciples out  of  which  the  Revolution  grew.  They 
did  not  contemplate  the  destruction  of  the  mon- 
archy, but  they  did  mean  that  it  should  be  limited 
and  the  people  safeguarded.  Louis  XVI  was 
not  ready  to  become  a  constitutional  king,  and 
the  revolutionary  tide  rose  with  a  force  not  to 
be  controlled.  He  had  now  to  deal,  not  with  the 
people,  but  with  the  Revolution.  In  the  name 

116 


DURING  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

of  "  Liberty,  Equality,  and  Fraternity  "  the  cry 
arose,  "  Death  to  the  Tyrant !  Death  to  him  or 
to  us ! "  and  it  did  not  cease  until  the  ill-starred 
king  went  to  the  guillotine  in  the  Place  de  la 
Revolution. 

The  mountaineers,  rejoicing  in  the  downfall  of 
feudalism  and  in  the  promises  of  human  rights, 
proposed  to  do  their  part  in  welcoming  the 
change,  and  with  popular  festivities  celebrated 
their  relief,  usually  held  on  one  or  another  of 
the  mountain  tops. 

Oberlin  was  patriot  as  well  as  prophet.  Real- 
izing the  hopeless  condition  of  his  country  if 
the  principles  of  liberty  should  fail  to  rest  upon 
religion,  he  sought  to  hold  the  mountaineers  to 
a  true  conception  of  patriotism.  He  presided 
over  their  celebrations  in  order  to  direct  them, 
and  to  give  them  the  solemn  and  serious  char- 
acter which  rightly  belonged  to  them.  He  was 
sure  to  be  with  them,  leading  them  in  prayer 
for  their  distracted  country. 

On  the  1 3th  of  November,  1791,  following  the 
fete  of  the  Constitution,  the  people  of  the  district 
came  together  in  the  church  at  Fouday.  Oberlin 
handed  the  mayors  of  the  different  villages  their 
badges  of  office,  and  reminded  them  that  though 
these  badges  which  they  were  to  wear  were  light 

117 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

burdens,  the  duties  which  they  represented  were 
not  light.  As  they  had  newly  come  to  office,  he 
counseled  them  to  keep  themselves  upright  and 
without  moral  blemish,  and  lifting  his  hand 
heavenward,  prayed  "  that  the  immense  giants 
of  the  aristocracy  might  be  crushed,  that  the 
Lord  would  make  his  face  to  shine  upon  the 
friends  of  the  Constitution,  that  the  people  might 
be  worthy  of  the  new  order  of  things  about  to 
be  established,  and  that  righteous  peace  might 
come  to  France  under  the  scepter  of  Jesus 
Christ." 

All  this  time  Austria,  Prussia,  Piedmont,  and 
Spain  could  scarcely  keep  their  hands  off  this 
French  frontier  of  Alsace.  Its  people  were  liv- 
ing under  the  constant  threat  of  these  powers. 
A  special  pretext  for  hostilities  soon  arose  out 
of  the  grievances  of  certain  petty  German  princes 
whose  inherited  claims  to  feudal  jurisdiction  in 
the  Vosges  had  now  been  swept  away  by  the 
action  of  France,  and  who  demanded  restitu- 
tion. This  led  to  a  declaration  of  war  early  in 
1792. 

Responding  to  a  call  for  volunteers,  many 
young  men  of  Oberlin's  parishes,  encouraged  by 
their  pastor,  enlisted.  He  assembled  them  at  the 
church  and  urged  them  to  be  good  soldiers  and 

118 


DURING  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

to  carry  with  them  the  thought  at  all  times  that 
God  was  their  leader  and  defender.  "  If  you  are 
called  to  your  country's  aid  in  foreign  service, 
remember  that  we  are  not  enemies  of  the  people 
whom  we  withstand.  They  are  as  much  to  be 
pitied  as  we  are  for  the  tyranny  of  the  princes 
who  have  brought  war  upon  them  and  upon  us. 
Be  therefore  compassionate  towards  every  one 
everywhere.  Carry  the  love  of  God  in  your 
hearts  and  in  all  your  thoughts.  Obtain  through 
constant  prayer  the  power  to  love  men  with  all 
your  hearts,  and  God  will  be  with  you  in  the 
foreign  land  and  bring  you  safely  back  to  your 
home.  But  if  any  should  be  called  to  find  his 
grave  far  from  here,  if  he  is  where  God  and 
duty  led  him,  he  will  be,  when  called,  nearer 
heaven." 

Oberlin  did  not  know  then  that  his  own  son, 
his  eldest  son,  bearing  his  name,  Frederic,  a 
youth  of  much  promise,  at  the  time  a  medical 
student  looking  forward  to  the  mission  of  his 
life,  would  be  one  of  the  first  to  fall  in  battle. 
For  the  execution  of  a  specially  dangerous  serv- 
ice a  volunteer  was  called  for;  as  might  have 
been  expected  from  his  father's  son,  he  volun- 
teered and  gave  up  his  life. 

Events  were  now  moving  very  swiftly  in 
119 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

France.  The  war  which  had  begun  under  the 
king  was  all  the  more  urgent  under  the  Repub- 
lic. The  army  sent  a  deputation  to  the  revolu- 
tionary convention  in  session  to  thank  it  "  for 
having  reduced  them  to  the  necessity  of  conquer- 
ing/' It  was  war  without  now,  and  a  "  Reign 
of  Terror  "  within.  "  If  1789  was  the  revolution 
of  justice,  1793  was  the  revolution  of  hatred," 
wrote  Jules  Simon.  It  had  come  to  this,  a  revo- 
lution of  hatred,  and  the  far-away  hills  of  the 
Vosges  were  not  too  remote  to  realize  their  share 
of  it.  With  the  government  of  Robespierre  and 
the  Jacobins,  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  was 
formally  proscribed  and  all  Christian  worship 
was  prohibited.  There  was  to  be  no  God  and 
there  were  to  be  no  churches.  During  these 
dreadful  times  almost  all  men  of  learning  were 
arrested.  Pastors  saved  their  lives  by  flight. 
The  brother  of  Oberlin  was  in  prison.  Oberlin 
himself  was  compelled  to  close  his  church  and 
his  life  was  in  peril,  but  he  determined  to  re- 
main where  he  was.  His  foresight  found  him 
with  a  mechanic's  license  which  he  had  obtained 
a  year  previous,  not  knowing  then  what  might 
eventuate.  As  an  artisan,  he  immediately  or- 
ganized a  club  named  "  The  People's  Society," 
and  arranged  for  a  meeting  with  the  club  in  the 

120 


DURING  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

discontinued  churches.  A  board  was  selected 
from  the  people  of  the  villages  and  the  gather- 
ings were  held  in  strict  parliamentary  form. 
Some  motion  concerning  the  public  welfare 
would  be  considered,  when  the  president  of  the 
club  would  invite  Oberlin  to  remark  upon  it. 
This  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  whip  Satan 
soundly  without  calling  him  by  name,  and  to 
expound  the  Beatitudes  and  the  teachings  of 
"  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount "  without  directly 
indicating  their  source  and  inspiration.  He  thus 
records  his  condition :  "  I  was  prohibited  all  pub- 
lic functions  by  the  revolutionary  government, 
and  I  established  a  club  in  the  place  of  divine 
service  to  enable  us  to  continue  our  assembly." 
Its  formation  is  thus  given :  "  When  the  Na- 
tional Convention  passed  its  decree  prohibiting 
public  worship  and  requiring  a  '  Public  Orator ' 
to  enforce  the  principles  of  liberty  and  to  de- 
nounce the  tyrant,  a  meeting  of  the  people  was 
held,  a  club  was  formed,  and  one  of  the  school- 
masters was  elected  president.  He  at  once  pro- 
posed citizen  Oberlin  as  the  Public  Orator,  which 
was  carried  unanimously.  '  Now/  said  the  Ora- 
tor, 'the  next  business  is  to  fix  a  place  and  a 
day  of  meeting.  It  seems  to  me  that  there  is 
no  place  in  all  this  district  so  convenient  as  that 

121 


JOHN   FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

which  has  been  heretofore  used  for  public  wor- 
ship/ This  was  approved.  '  As  to  the  day  of 
assembly,'  continued  the  Orator,  '  we  cannot  fix 
Monday,  Wednesday,  or  Friday  because  they  are 
market  days  at  Strasburg;  what  do  you  think 
of  the  old  Sunday  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing?' This  was  carried  unanimously.  Accord- 
ingly, on  the  next  Sunday,  the  citizen  Orator 
used  the  pulpit  as  a  tribune,  and  beginning  by 
reading  the  National  Convention  Decree,  pro- 
ceeded as  follows :  '  According  to  this  decree,  I 
am  to  exhort  you  against  the  tyrants,  and  we 
are  to  confer  for  their  destruction.  Here  in  our 
peaceful  valley  we  certainly  have  no  such  tyrants 
as  the  Convention  describes,  and  it  would  be  use- 
less for  me  to  speak  about  them.  But  I  can 
name  and  describe  to  you  other  tyrants  who  live 
not  only  in  this  valley  but  in  your  own  houses, 
aye,  even  in  your  hearts.  These  tyrants  are 
hatred,  avarice,  impurity,  fleshly  lusts,  impiety, 
and  pride.  These  are  the  tyrants  I  shall  de- 
nounce here,  and  I  shall  confer  with  you  on  the 
best  means  of  bringing  them  down.  I  believe 
the  best  and  the  only  means  now  and  to  all 
eternity  are  repentance  towards  God  and  faith 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.' '  In  this  form  he  met 
the  "  Decree." 

122 


DURING  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

Madame  de  Stein,  in  her  Souvenirs  of  Alsatia, 
gives  some  picturesque  details  of  one  of  these 
club  meetings: 

Desiring  to  be  present  at  one  of  these,  we  deter- 
mined to  go  to  Fouday.  When  we  arrived,  the  people 
were  already  assembled  at  the  parish  church.  We 
found  the  benches  all  occupied  by  club  men,  excise 
officers,  and  women.  Above  and  all  around  is  a  gal- 
lery where  the  organ  was,  and  the  young  people  were. 
The  pulpit  was  at  the  right.  The  service  had  begun. 
The  hymns  had  already  been  sung,  to  our  regret.  We 
shared  the  benches.  The  examination  of  the  boys  and 
girls  was  at  that  moment  on  "  The  Rights  of  Man," 
which  they  knew  by  heart.  The  girls  answered  ques- 
tions with  gentleness  and  modesty,  but  the  boys,  with 
such  martial  tones  that  I  felt  they  would  know  how  to 
defend  their  rights  and  be  guardians  of  liberty.  It 
reminded  me  of  the  chorus  of  young  and  old  men  in 
ancient  Greece. 

The  President  arose,  read  the  minutes  of  the  last 
meeting,  and  referred  to  a  discourse  which  one  of  the 
members  had  made  at  a  previous  meeting  —  which 
actually  was  a  sermon  of  Oberlin's  —  and  called  upon 
him  to  finish  what  he  had  not  then  time  to  say. 
Oberlin,  who  was  in  a  corner  upon  the  bench,  among 
the  club  members,  took  off  his  great  cloak  and  went 
upon  the  improvised  tribune,  and  in  a  very  natural 
manner  led  in  prayer,  such  as  it  is  customary  to  offer 
before  divine  service.  Then  followed  a  most  Chris- 
tian sermon,  well  adapted  to  his  listeners.  I  admired 

123 


JOHN   FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

him,  for  it  took  courage  to  speak  so  plainly.  I  was  glad 
indeed  to  hear  this  good  Oberlin.  I  found  united  in 
him  a  holy  enthusiasm  with  a  frank  and  original  ex- 
pression which  appealed  to  my  heart.  Every  one  knelt 
in  prayer,  and  the  women  for  the  most  part  bowed 
their  heads  in  their  hands. 

A  subsequent  visit  at  his  house  by  Madame 
de  Stein  is  thus  related: 

Brought  to  speak  upon  the  burning  topic  of  the  day 
—  the  pending  Revolution  —  he  thus  expressed  him- 
self :  "  All  that  has  happened  to  us  reminds  me  of 
a  Saturday  when  the  cleaning  up  begins  for  Sunday. 
The  furniture  is  taken  out  of  the  room  and  everything 
is  turned  upside  down.  They  dust,  they  beat ;  and  the 
disorder  is  terrible.  One  finds  himself  in  a  cloud  of 
dust,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  breathe  in  the  dirty 
place.  Many  things  are  broken;  legs  of  chairs  come 
off,  and  the  like,  but  all  will  be  mended  —  though  at 
added  expense  —  and  made  firm  again.  Meanwhile 
the  parlor  is  cleansed,  and  the  furniture  one  thing  after 
another  restored.  Cleanliness  and  order  come  out  of 
the  disorder  and  are  the  results  of  the  dreadful  up- 
heaval. Sunday  comes,  and  all  is  fair  and  shiny.  The 
master  returns  from  his  absence  and  finds  the  place 
better  than  it  was  on  Friday. 

This  was  a  cheerful  way  in  which  to  reas- 
sure the  good  lady.  But  Oberlin's  heart  was 
bleeding  when  he  said  it.  He  was  bearing  the 

124 


DURING  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

loss  of  his  first-born  in  great  sorrow,  yet  with 
entire  submission  to  God's  providence.  The 
fearful  and  awful  conditions  of  the  Revolution 
were  with  him  and  heavy  upon  his  heart  night 
and  day.  It  was  his  wisdom,  however,  to  talk  op- 
timistically to  his  guest,  and  it  was  his  firm  belief 
that  out  of  the  bitter  experiences  would  come 
the  "rights  of  man."  The  Abbe  Gregoire,  a 
Catholic  ecclesiastic  in  France,  of  much  distinc- 
tion, learned  about  Oberlin's  patriotism  and  en- 
tered into  correspondence  with  him.  Oberlin 
fully  sympathized  with  his  Catholic  brother,  who 
rejoiced  because  he  had  seen  in  France  "  the 
whole  infamous  race  of  kings  exterminated :  they 
have  done  only  harm.  I  would  prefer  the  ten 
plagues  of  Egypt  to  a  king/' 

This  "Society  of  the  People"  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  Jacobins.  They  suspected  that 
the  Ban-de-la-Roche,  and  particularly  Oberlin's 
house,  served  as  a  refuge  to  those  who  had  fled 
for  safety  during  the  "Terror"  in  Paris.  Hence, 
the  parsonage  had  several  visits  of  gendarmes 
who  were  looking  for  offenders.  A  handful  of 
revolutionary  tyrants  from  Strasburg  established 
what  they  called  La  Propagande  Revolutionnaire 
and  in  a  spirit  of  impious  atrocity  began  a  cir- 
cuit with  a  traveling  guillotine,  and  put  to  death 

125 


JOHN  FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

whom  they  pleased.     It  is  said  that  fifty  thou- 
sand Alsatians  took  refuge  in  Germany. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  Marseillaise  Hymn 
was  born  in  the  home  of  Baron  de  Dietrich,  then 
mayor  of  Strasburg  and  lord  of  the  fief,  which 
included  the  parishes  of  Oberlin.  He  was  the 
son  of  Oberlin's  special  patron  and  was  Ober- 
lin's  friend.  Rouget  de  Lisle,  a  young  officer 
of  engineers  who  was  wont  to  relieve  the  tedi- 
ousness  of  his  garrison  life  by  writing  verses 
and  the  music  for  them,  was  a  guest  of  the 
mayor,  who  said  to  the  company,  "  Strasburg 
will  soon  have  a  patriotic  fete,  I  am  thinking, 
and  De  Lisle  must  bring  us  one  of  his  hymns 
that  will  carry  his  ardent  feelings  to  the  souls 
of  the  people."  De  Lisle  found  his  way  to  his 
lodgings  and  began  to  give  utterance  to  his 
thoughts,  singing  altogether  and  writing  noth- 
ing. In  the  morning  (April  25,  1792)  the  chant 
of  the  night  returned  to  him;  he  wrote  down 
the  words,  made  the  notes  of  music,  and  ran 
to  Dietrich's.  They  called  together  some  friends. 
One  of  the  young  ladies  played  while  De  Lisle 
sang.  The  hymn  of  the  nation  was  found; 
De  Lisle  named  it  "  The  War  Song  for  the  Army 
of  the  Rhine,"  and  the  band  of  the  National  Guard 
played  it  on  Sunday,  four  days  later.  It  was 

126 


DURING  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

received  with  immense  enthusiasm.  It  flew  from 
town  to  town  through  all  the  orchestras,  and  in 
two  months  it  had  reached  Marseilles,  where  the 
clubs  adopted  it  and  renamed  it  after  their  city. 
It  was  called  "  the  liquid  fire  of  the  Revolution/' 
'To  Oberlin's  great  grief  the  unhappy  Dietrich, 
a  few  months  after  the  notes  were  first  sung  in 
his  own  home,  marched  to  its  accompaniment  to 
the  scaffold,  and  De  Lisle  himself  only  escaped 
death  by  flight  into  the  hiding-places  of  the  Jura 
mountains.  These  were  the  days  when  Oberlin 
was  in  great  personal  peril  and  when  he  was 
visited  from  Strasburg  by  an  official,  afterwards 
supposed  to  be  St.  Just,  who  spent  the  night  at 
Oberlin's  house.  He  appears  to  have  satisfied 
himself  that  the  man  who  had  demitted  his  cleri- 
cal functions  and  become  a  mechanic  might  safely 
be  permitted  to  retain  his  head.  At  one  time 
Oberlin's  house  was  searched  when  a  refugee 
was  within,  but  who  was  not  discovered,  owing 
to  the  tact  and  marvelous  coolness  of  Oberlin. 
The  officers  left  him  with  ample  apologies  for 
their  intrusion,  while  the  suspect  was  within 
hearing  of  their  regrets  for  the  unnecessary  visit. 
The  tact  and  courage  of  Oberlin  in  these  trying 
times  is  seen  in  an  address  made  in  1794  to  the 
younger  members  of  his  flock: 

127 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

"  I  desire,"  he  said  in  his  address,  "  that  the  people 
of  the  French  Republic  should  be  animated  by  truly 
republican  sentiments.  I  wish  them  to  understand  that 
every  individual  ought  to  live  for  the  public  good.  We 
are  republicans  when  from  love  to  the  public  we  en- 
deavor both  by  precept  to  stimulate  our  children  to 
active  beneficence  and  to  seek  to  render  them  useful 
to  others  by  attending  to  such  pursuits  as  are  likely  to 
increase  the  public  prosperity. 

"  We  are  republicans  when  we  endeavor  to  imbue 
the  minds  of  our  children  with  such  knowledge  as  may 
be  likely  in  mature  life  to  make  them  useful  in  the 
station  they  are  called  to  occupy,  and  when  we  teach 
them  to  love  their  neighbors  as  themselves. 

"  We  are  republicans  when  we  preserve  our  children 
from  that  self-interested  spirit  —  which  at  the  present 
time  seems  to  have  gained  more  ascendency  than  ever 
—  when  so  many  care  only  for  themselves  and  labor 
for  the  public  good  only  as  they  are  compelled  to  do 
so.  Ah,  far  from  us  be  this  infernal  spirit,  as  anti- 
republican  as  it  is  anti-Christian." 

He  concluded  his  address  by  praying  for  all 
true  republicans.  The  aptitude  with  which  he 
blended  his  political  and  religious  admonitions 
revealed  the  man.  He  escaped  the  Terrorists  by 
proclaiming  his  republican  sentiments,  but  he 
managed  to  work  in  a  good  deal  of  sound 
preaching  in  the  way  in  which  he  did  it. 

He  took  his  chances,  however.  In  due  time 
128 


DURING  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

he  was  summoned  to  Strasburg  for  examination. 
His  statement  before  the  judges  was :  "  In  my 
instruction  I  always  restricted  myself  to  that 
which  would  help  my  brothers  and  make  them 
good  patriots,  good  fathers,  zealous  republicans, 
faithful  and  praiseworthy  citizens  in  every  cir- 
cumstance. I  gave  up  at  a  meeting  of  the 
people  a  while  ago  the  neckband  and  cloak  which 
I  formerly  wore.  I  always  disliked  these  vain 
distinctions.  As  to  royalty,  it  had  to  be  abol- 
ished, and  I  began  several  years  ago  to  inspire 
my  hearers  with  republican  sentiments."  He 
was  allowed  to  continue  "  The  Society  of  the 
People."  But  later  on  the  second  summons  came, 
this  time  held  before  the  mayor  and  the  munici- 
pal council  of  Fouday,  and  Oberlin  there  signed 
the  following  declaration :  "  I  recognize  that  the 
universality  of  the  citizens  of  France  is  a  sov- 
ereign authority.  I  promise  to  obey  and  submit 
to  the  laws  of  the  republic." 

Still,  he  remained  under  suspicion.  On  the 
28th  day  of  July,  1794,  while  at  the  house  of  a 
citizen  of  Waldbach  to  celebrate  a  christening, 
a  revolutionary  commissioner  appeared  with  an 
order  of  arrest.  The  next  morning,  escorted  by 
the  officer  and  also  by  many  of  his  dismayed 
parishioners,  he  was  walking  on  his  way  to 
9  129 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

Valle  de  Ville.  On  his  arriving  at  Schlestadt 
en  route  he  was  consigned  under  guard  with  the 
pastor  of  Rothau,  who  was  arrested  with  him, 
to  a  little  inn  for  the  night.  At  the  hotel  table 
were  seated  Jacobin  functionaries,  who  took  oc- 
casion to  pour  their  contempt  upon  evangelical 
belief.  This  was  more  than  Oberlin  could  stand, 
and  called  forth  from  him  such  vigorous  defense 
that  it  was  said  the  best  place  for  him  would 
be  the  military  prison  at  Besangon.  He  would 
undoubtedly  have  arrived  there,  but  at  that  in- 
stant the  startling  news  came  of  the  fall  of 
Robespierre.  His  head  had  rolled  upon  the  scaf- 
fold. The  "  Reign  of  Terror  "  was  over.  This 
brought  deliverance  to  thousands  in  prisons,  and 
to  Oberlin,  who  beyond  question  was  on  his  way 
to  one. 

Meanwhile  during  this  period  Oberlin  was  de- 
prived of  his  usual  income,  which  was  meager 
enough  at  the  best.  His  parishioners  made  the 
utmost  exertions  to  meet  the  emergency,  agree- 
ing when  the  Revolution  began  to  make  an  an- 
nual collection  of  fourteen  hundred  francs 
($280).  The  first  year  they  raised  less  than 
eleven  hundred  and  fifty  ($230),  and  during  the 
remaining  time  of  common  distress  this  was  re- 
duced to  less  than  four  hundred  francs  ($80), 

130 


DURING  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

which  was  his  entire  yearly  revenue,  excepting 
his  humble  personal  earnings.  The  almost  total 
failure  of  the  annual  supplies  left  him  and  his 
household  largely  dependent  upon  their  own 
labor  for  the  actual  necessities  of  life,  and  may 
account  for  a  most  serious  illness  which  brought 
him  to  death's  door,  said  to  have  been  "  brought 
on  by  over-exertion."  His  greatest  trial  was  his 
inability  to  aid  others  in  these  hard  times,  as 
formerly,  and  during  the  delirium  of  his  sick- 
ness he  was  perpetually  asking  his  attendant  for 
funds  to  help  him  in  benevolent  plans.  From 
this  illness  his  constitution  never  quite  recovered 
its  extraordinary  vigor. 

After  Robespierre's  overthrow  Oberlin  imme- 
diately announced  his  purpose  to  receive  twelve 
pupils  to  instruct  within  his  home.  He  had  no 
difficulty  in  securing  these,  as  the  girls  who  had 
been  sent  to  his  mountain  schools  from  distant 
parts  had  been  in  great  repute  as  teachers,  and 
Oberlin's  testimonials  were  readily  accepted  as 
surety  for  sound  instruction  and  gentle  manners. 
As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  he  would  take  pupils 
for  personal  instruction,  the  children  of  several 
foreigners  of  distinction  were  committed  to  him, 
and  he  was  once  more  in  the  receipt  of  a  regular 
income.  It  was  a  happy  day  for  him  when  he 


JOHN  FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

was  again  able  to  resume  his  pastorate  and  gather 
his  villagers  to  their  churches  for  the  open  and 
unhindered  worship  of  God. 

When  he  gathered  his  scattered  flock  together, 
he  declared  to  them  that  henceforth  he  would 
serve  them  without  any  fixed  salary.  Every  one 
knew  the  way  to  the  parsonage  and  might  bring 
his  share  to  whatever  amount  he  pleased  and 
at  whatever  time,  and  if  any  should  bring  noth- 
ing he  would  not  feel  hurt;  he  would  consider 
that  it  was  only  the  inability  to  contribute.  They 
had  had  a  hard  time  together,  and  he  would  not 
add  to  their  burdens.  He  desired  that  they  should 
contribute  in  the  same  manner  what  they  could 
afford  for  the  payment  of  the  schoolmasters,  and 
likewise  for  charitable  purposes.  It  might  be  "  in 
the  form  of  goods,  provisions,  or  money." 

Though  he  suffered  at  times  for  daring  thus 
to  interpret  literally  the  Scripture,  "Take  no 
thought  for  the  morrow,"  as  to  his  personal 
wants,  he  was  enabled  to  live  in  his  extremely 
frugal  way.  A  sack  of  flour  would  be  found 
at  his  door,  no  one  having  been  seen  to  bring 
it.  Butter,  eggs,  and  fruit  would  appear  when 
it  was  known  that  he  was  to  entertain  strangers. 
At  one  time,  for  example,  when  he  "  was  called 
upon  to  pay  an  important  bill  the  next  day  and 

132 


DURING  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

his  purse  was  entirely  empty/'  he  writes :  "  I  went 
for  my  usual  walk  towards  the  little  forest  and 
said  in  my  heart :  '  My  God,  thou  knowest  my 
trouble  and  all  my  needs.  Thou  wilt  not  let  me 
remain  incapable  of  fulfilling  my  engagements ! ' 
While  returning  to  the  village  I  met  a  woman 
who  wras  standing  aside.  She  timidly  ap- 
proached me :  '  Oh,  my  dear  pastor,  can  you  for- 
give me?  Several  years  ago  when  I  was  in 
great  trouble  you  lent  me  a  sum  of  money  which 
I  was  not  able  to  return  when  it  was  due.  Here 
it  is  at  last.  Forgive  my  long  delay.' ' 

Oberlin  now  felt  that  the  most  trying  times 
were  over  and  looked  forward  to  better  days. 
For  the  republic  he  had  high  hopes.  He  did  not 
see,  and  others  did  not,  that  the  first  day  of 
Bonaparte  meant  the  last  day  of  the  republic. 
This  patriot  pastor  looked  for  a  new  country 
and  new  institutions  in  place  of  a  single  man; 
the  development  of  new  sentiments,  new  man- 
ners, and  new  life  with  free  institutions.  The 
stringent  military  despotism  which  followed  for 
fourteen  years  did  not,  however,  affect  the  local 
work  of  Oberlin.  While  the  great  general  was 
campaigning  over  the  continent,  triumphing  over 
the  proudest  monarchies  of  Europe,  dethroning 
kings  and  enthroning  members  of  his  family,  the 

133 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

Protestant  churches  were  unmolested,  and  the 
pastor  of  the  hills  was  left  to  work  out  once 
more  his  quiet  but  far-reaching  mission  in  peace. 
Little  by  little  his  illustration  of  the  "  cleaning 
up"  was  justified,  and  the  political  changes  on 
the  whole  proved  to  be  for  the  betterment  of  the 
people.  Nevertheless,  in  the  disappointment  of 
his  political  expectations  he  felt  more  deeply  than 
ever  that  revolutions  can  effect  but  little  good 
unless  the  individuals  who  make  up  the  nation 
themselves  become  good.  He  said:  "People 
babble  about  liberty  who  are  in  the  worst  slavery 
to  their  passions  and  selfish  desires.  The  most 
untakable  Bastile  is  that  which  towers  in  our 
hearts." 


134 


IX 

SUCCEEDING   YEARS 


IX 

SUCCEEDING  YEARS 
(1795-1826) 

FROM  1789  to  1795  the  experiences  of 
Oberlin  had  not  only  marked  him  as  a 
bold  leader,  but  had  as  well  brought  his 
name  and  work  among  the  mountain  peasantry 
into  more  extended  recognition.  Attention  was 
particularly  directed  to  him  from  the  fact  that 
he  had  remained  in  his  harassed  district,  stand- 
ing by  his  parishes  when  others  far  less  exposed 
to  danger  had  fled  over  the  borders  into  Ger- 
many; that  he  had  continued  his  unique  leader- 
ship and  practically  much  of  his  preaching  when 
church  services  were  interdicted;  that  he  had 
twice  braved  the  political  courts  which  had  tried 
him,  and  that  finally  he  had  been  arrested  for 
a  third  trial.  This  wider  knowledge  of  his  quali- 
ties led  to  renewed  overtures  for  him  to  leave 
his  laborious  cares  in  the  hills  and  take  charge 
of  a  church  where  cultured  life  would  bring  with 

137 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

it  superior  advantages,  greater  recognized  honor, 
and  a  satisfactory  salary.  His  answer  was  the 
same  to  all :  "  No,  I  will  never  leave  this  place. 
It  took  me  ten  years  to  learn  every  head  in  this 
parish,  making  an  inventory  of  the  moral,  intel- 
lectual, and  domestic  wants  of  each.1  I  have 
laid  my  'plans  for  the  future.  I  must  have  at 
least  ten  years  to  carry  these  into  execution,  and 
I  shall  need  the  ten  following  to  correct  their 
faults  and  vices.  God  has  confided  this  flock  to 
me.  Why  should  I  abandon  it?  "  Thus,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-six,  with  his  powers  matured  and 
in  full  strength,  Oberlin  renewed  his  devotion, 
laboring  with  the  same  earnest  spirit,  in  the 
same  forms,  personally  attending  to  the  daily 
details  in  the  material  and  religious  interests  of 
the  villages. 

His  prophetic  genius  was  not  exhausted  in 
anticipating  many  of  the  modern  theories  of 
both  primary  and  secondary  education  and  their 
methods,  the  combination  of  manual  and  indus- 
trial instruction,  the  scientific  study  of  agricul- 

1  The  book  of  records  may  still  be  seen  in  the  parish  house  in 
Waldersbach.  In  it  Pastor  Oberlin  kept  an  exact  and  careful  state- 
ment of  the  ancestry,  hereditary  tendencies,  characteristics,  and 
deeds  of  every  member  of  the  five  villages  under  his  pastoral  care. 
No  necessary  detail  was  insignificant  to  him.  The  interests  which 
belonged  to  the  whole,  belonged  to  every  part. 

138 


SUCCEEDING  YEARS 

ture  with  lectures  and  practical  experiments, 
but  as  if  it  were  by  intuition  he  enunciated  the 
principles  which  enter  into  the  sociological  ques- 
tions of  to-day. 

The  churches  of  his  time,  narrow  in  their 
ideas,  were  consequently  restricted  in  their 
sympathies  and  in  their  schemes  for  the  sal- 
vation of  man,  and  were  chiefly  treating  men 
individually  as  souls  that  needed  to  be  saved 
and  safeguarded;  there  was  little  apprehension 
of  the  obligations  and  relationships  of  people 
collectively. 

Oberlin  realized,  as  no  other  teachers  appear 
to  have  done  in  that  day,  that  we  must  deal  with 
environment  as  well  as  with  heredity,  and  that 
it  is  well-nigh  impossible  to  save  individuals  if 
we  neglect  them  in  their  community  conditions. 
He  saw  as  clearly  then  as  we  do  now  that  there 
is  more  in  the  interdependent  relations  of  organ- 
ized society  than  the  units  which  compose  it; 
that  missionary  work  cannot  regard  man  as  an 
individual  only,  but  must  have  a  care  for  him 
also  in  his  relations  to  other  men,  to  human  life 
in  its  social  conditions ;  and  that  in  dealing  with 
these  facts  we  must  reckon  not  only  with  the 
influences  of  hereditary  tendencies  and  with  the 
history  of  the  past  into  the  consequences  of  which 

139 


JOHN  FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

people  have  entered  but  also  with  the  environ- 
ments and  capabilities  of  the  present;  with  all 
and  with  everything  that  enters  into  character 
and  goes  to  determine  character  and  conduct. 
Oberlin  was  a  full  century  in  advance  of  his  day 
in  this  realization  of  the  fact  that  souls  are  people 
in  their  relations  to  each  other  and  to  the  whole 
body  of  which  they  are  members,  and  that  the 
gospel  can  mean  relatively  but  little  to  a  people 
who  by  the  state  of  things  about  them  are  merely 
existing;  that  the  human  soul  cannot  be  ade- 
quately considered  apart  from  its  food,  its  home, 
its  work,  and  its  wages.  The  practical  social 
problems  which  interest  the  present  generation 
were  not  only  in  Oberlin's  mind,  but  in  his  lim- 
ited sphere  he  worked  them  out,  applying  the 
ethics  of  Christianity  as  we  now  understand  them. 
He  was  teaching  social  regeneration  when  he  was 
teaching  the  people  how  to  live  and  how  all 
people  everywhere  ought  to  live.  In  this  instruc- 
tion also  he  made  his  own  home  a  practical  social 
settlement,  free  to  all  and  always  open  for  illus- 
tration and  example.  One  of  the  rules  of  his 
'  Village  Improvement  Society,"  another  socio- 
logical prophecy,  was  that  "  no  lad  should  be 
received  for  confirmation  without  a  certificate 
from  his  parents  that  he  had  planted  and  cared 

140 


SUCCEEDING  YEARS 

for  two  fruit  trees  in  a  suitable  and  designated 
place.* 

Oberlin's  alertness  in  welcoming  whatever  con- 
tributed to  the  public  good  is  evinced  in  the  fact 
that  in  the  very  year  of  the  formation  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  in  1804,  he 
became  its  first  correspondent  and  one  of  its 
most  earnest  coadjutors.  As  soon  as  he  heard 
of  its  incorporation  he  immediately  organized  a 
little  "  Auxiliary  Bible  Society  "  in  his  own  home, 
and  the  parsonage  at  Waldbach  became  the 
principal  center  of  the  distribution  of  the  Scrip- 
tures throughout  France.  Through  his  son, 
Henry,  who  had  much  of  the  genius  and  de- 
votion of  his  father,  Oberlin,  from  this  little 
mountain  depot,  undertook  the  work  of  Bible  dis- 
tribution in  various  provinces  of  the  nation. 

The  fourteenth  report  of  the  British  and  For- 
eign Bible  Society  thus  refers  to  this  son,  his 
work,  and  his  untimely  death :  "  Your  committee 
think  it  due  to  the  late  Rev.  Henry  Oberlin  of 
Waldbach,  in  Alsatia,  to  bear  testimony  to  the 
zeal  by  which  he  was  urged  to  sacrifice  his  valu- 
able life  in  exertions  for  distributing  the  Holy 
Scriptures  among  his  countrymen.  The  imme- 
diate occasion  of  the  death  of  this  young  man 
was  a  cold  which  he  caught  in  1815,  while  as- 

141 


JOHN   FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

sisting  to  extinguish  a  fire  which  had  broken  out 
in  a  town  in  his  route,  as  he  was  making  his 
circuit  through  the  south  of  France  to  ascertain 
the  condition  of  the  Protestants  and  the  means 
of  supplying  them  with  the  Holy  Scriptures." 

Through  the  prominence  into  which  Oberlin 
and  his  work  in  Alsatia  were  brought  by  the 
exciting  events  of  the  Revolution,  he  had  been 
nominated  before  the  fall  of  Napoleon  to  receive 
the  medal  of  the  "  Legion  of  Honor."  Later 
this  distinction  was  conferred  upon  him  by  the 
royal  ordinance  of  Louis  XVIII  "  for  services 
which  he  has  rendered  in  his  pastorate  during 
fifty-three  years,  employing  constant  efforts  for 
the  amelioration  of  the  people,  for  zeal  in  the 
establishment  of  schools  and  their  methods  of 
instruction,  and  the  many  branches  of  industry 
and  advancement  in  agriculture  and  the  improve- 
ment of  roads,  which  have  made  that  district 
flourishing  and  happy." 

To  those  who  complimented  him  on  the  re- 
ception of  this  honor  he  modestly  replied :  "  The 
king  has  the  kindness  to  send  me  the  decoration 
of  the  '  Legion  of  Honor/  But  what  have  I 
done  to  deserve  it?  Who  in  my  situation  would 
not  have  done  what  I  have,  and  perhaps  better?  " 

In  1818  a  report  read  by  Count  de  Neuf- 
142 


SUCCEEDING  YEARS 

chateau  before  the  National  Agricultural  Society 
of  Paris,  setting  forth  at  length  the  improve- 
ments in  agriculture  introduced  by  Oberlin,  con- 
cluded in  these  words :  "I  am  happy  in  being 
able  to  manifest  before  you  the  attachment  and 
interest  I  have  for  the  department  of  the  Vosges, 
in  giving  you  so  excellent  an  opportunity  to 
crown  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Oberlin  not  merely 
a  special  act,  but  an  entire  life  consecrated  to 
the  dissemination,  in  a  district  before  his  arrival 
there  almost  savage,  of  the  best  methods  of  agri- 
culture and  the  purest  lights  of  civilization.  We 
shall  record  it  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Society  as 
an  admirable  example  of  what  the  influence  of 
an  enlightened  man  can  effect  for  the  welfare 
of  an  entire  region.  What  an  instructive  and 
interesting  history  is  that  of  the  prodigies  ac- 
complished in  silence  in  this  almost  unknown 
corner  of  the  Vosges!  How  delightful  it  is  for 
us  to  know  that  France  possesses  in  its  bosom 
such  a  miracle  of  virtue!  How  consoling  it  is 
to  think  that  this  is  not  a  dream  of  philanthropy, 
but  that  these  are  positive  facts,  and  that  im- 
agination can  add  nothing  to  reality ! "  As  a 
token  of  its  appreciation  a  gold  medal  was  de- 
creed to  him  and  conveyed  with  every  mark  of 
honor. 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

The  emperor,  Alexander  of  Russia,  added  his 
highest  appreciation  of  Oberlin's  character.  An 
officer  in  the  imperial  service  who  had  been  one 
of  Oberlin's  pupils  in  Strasburg,  on  asking  leave 
of  absence  to  visit  his  old  tutor  at  Waldbach, 
received  from  the  czar  this  gracious  message: 
"  Pastor  Oberlin  is  not  unknown  to  me.  I  know 
him  to  be  a  true  minister  of  the  Lord.  Tell  him 
I  love  him  and  revere  him."  The  officer  deliv- 
ered this  message,  and  on  taking  leave  of  his 
old  tutor,  Oberlin  kissed  his  hand,  saying,  "  Give 
that  to  the  emperor,  and  assure  him  of  my  re- 
spect and  of  my  desire  that  the  divine  will  may 
be  fulfilled  in  him." 

The  officer  reporting  this  to  the  emperor  said, 
"  Sire,  I  have  a  sacred  duty  to  fulfil  in  offering 
you  the  homage  of  Pastor  Oberlin,"  and  at- 
tempted to  kiss  his  Majesty's  hand.  The  em- 
peror drew  it  back,  saying,  "  You  know  I  allow 
no  one  to  kiss  my  hand,  least  of  all  a  preacher 
of  the  gospel !  "  The  officer  replied,  "  But  I  can- 
not retain  on  my  hand  the  impress  of  the  lips 
of  Father  Oberlin  sent  to  your  Majesty;  "  where- 
upon the  emperor  embraced  the  bearer  of  the 
message  and  said,  "  That  is  for  Father  Oberlin." 
This  occurred  at  Riga  in  1819. 

These  late  honors  —  for  Oberlin  was  now 
144 


SUCCEEDING  YEARS 

eighty  years  of  age  —  could  not  have  been  other 
than  pleasing  to  him,  but  certainly  it  would  have 
overwhelmed  him  to  know  that  after  a  century 
and  more  had  intervened  his  name  would  be 
perpetuated  anew  in  one  of  its  most  beauti- 
ful modern  avenues  in  his  native  city  —  the 
city  of  Goethe  and  of  Gutenberg  —  as  one  of 
its  most  notable  sons,  while  the  then  popular 
ministers  of  the  rich  churches  of  his  day  are 
forgotten. 

We  have  seen  that  Oberlin  had  faith  in  dreams, 
but  the  strangest  one  which  could  come  to  him 
would  have  been  that  his  name  would  wing  its 
way  from  the  remote  mountain  tops  across  the 
continent  of  Europe,  span  the  wide  sea  into  the 
new  world  which  he  had  once  hoped  to  enter, 
and  inscribe  itself  upon  one  of  the  most  poten- 
tial of  America's  institutions  of  higher  learning, 
so  many  of  whose  sons,  in  sympathy  with  his 
ideas  of  brotherhood,  its  obligations  and  its 
needs,  seem  to  have  caught  his  spirit  of  noble 
service,  and  thus  to  give  the  college  which  bears 
his  name  its  special  distinction. 

It  seemed  to  those  who  sought  to  secure  the 
services  of  Oberlin  in  a  larger  sphere  that  he 
should  have  listened  to  some  of  their  attract- 
ive calls  when  they  came  to  him  in  the  prime 

145 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

of  his  power  and  attainments.  Though  he  could 
not  realize  what  far-away  results  might  flow 
from  his  fidelity  to  the  trust  he  had  in  hand  upon 
the  isolated  hills,  he  did  not  feel  that  his  in- 
fluence would  be  greater  if  he  were  preaching 
in  a  more  conspicuous  pulpit  and  to  a  people  less 
dependent  upon  his  personal  power.  He  was  not 
one  of  those  who  are  ever  looking  for  better 
occasions  or  larger  opportunities.  What  Oberlin 
did  emphasize  was  supreme  fidelity  to  the  trusts 
he  had.  He  was  sure  he  had  been  called  of  God 
to  minister  where  he  was.  He  was  not  sure 
that  the  call  to  leave  was  of  the  same  voice. 
Until  he  had  this  assurance  he  would  be  as  im- 
movable as  the  hills  about  him.  In  this  his  con- 
science was  right  and  his  judgment  was  wise. 
His  fidelity  is  saying  to  many  a  self-denying 
minister  to-day  that  wisdom  will  not  judge 
the  magnitude  of  a  work  by  outward  appear- 
ance. No  one  can  tell  where  or  how  far  his 
influence  may  go,  though  his  work  be  ever  so 
lowly. 

The  time  came  at  last  when  age  asserted  itself, 
and,  when  no  longer  able  to  minister  to  his 
scattered  parishes,  his  son-in-law  came  to  Wald- 
bach  as  his  assistant;  but  the  resolute  man 
had  no  thought  of  yielding  to  old  age  except 

146 


SUCCEEDING  YEARS 

upon  compulsion.  He  would  say  to  his  young 
people  about  him:  "Don't  grow  old.  Don't  do 
it!  You  see  what  has  become  of  the  active 
Fritz.  Why,  he  can  hardly  drag  himself  along! 
Don't  grow  old"  —  and  he  would  add  —  "but 
do  not  think,  my  dears,  that'  I  murmur  at 
this.  Oh!  the  good  God  is  wiser  than  old 
Fritz." 

He  never  lost  his  sympathy  with  youth,  but 
retained  his  cheerfulness,  his  hilarity,  his  merry 
smile  and  upright  figure  as  long  as  he  lived. 
"  Even  to  his  last  days,"  says  his  daughter, 
Madame  Rauscher,  "  he  could  show  young  men 
how  soldiers  march :  '  Form  in  line.  Left  foot 
first.  March !  Right  about/  and  so  on,  drilling 
them  with  evident  pleasure."  When  after  four- 
score years  of  age  it  became  impossible  for  him 
to  visit  the  people  of  his  parishes,  he  kept  his 
printing-press  busy  with  his  circulars  and  mes- 
sages, setting  up  the  type  and  working  the  press 
with  his  own  hands.  Often  when  inclined  to 
rest,  his  daughter  would  overhear  him  chiding 
himself  for  his  unwelcome  fatigue :  "  Ah !  Fritz, 
idling  are  you  ?  What  does  this  mean  ?  "  upon 
which  he  would  rouse  himself  for  the  work  which 
was  engaging  him.  He  kept  the  parish  register 
before  him  daily,  and,  as  he  would  read  the 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

names  one  by  one,  would  pray  for  them  as  if 
they  were  indeed  his  children.  The  time  came 
at  last  for  which  this  highly  gifted  and  devoted 
servant  of  God  had  waited  in  earnest  expecta- 
tion of  his  more  complete  heirship  with  the 
Master  who  had  won  his  youthful  heart  and  who 
had  been  his  strength  and  joy  through  all  the 
years.  On  the  first  day  of  June,  1826,  when  the 
hills  were  waking  into  the  glory  of  the  season, 
the  soul  of  Oberlin  passed  into  the  new  and  larger 
life.  The  tolling  of  the  church  bell  at  Waldbach 
announced  to  the  stricken  people  of  his  parishes 
that  they  had  lost  the  presence  and  service  of 
their  greatest  earthly  friend. 

At  his  funeral  people  gathered  from  far  to 
testify  to  their  love  and  their  sense  of  loss. 
Magistrates  and  ministers  from  neighboring 
communities  and  several  Catholic  priests  in  full 
canonicals  were  mourning  at  his  grave.  A  final 
farewell  which  Oberlin  himself  had  written  was 
read :  "  Thou,  O  ever  dear  Parish,  God  will  not 
forget  you,  nor  abandon  you.  He  has  thoughts 
of  peace  and  mercy  for  you.  Oh !  that  you  might 
forget  my  name  to  remember  only  that  of  Jesus 
Christ  whom  I  have  preached.  He  it  is  who  is 
your  pastor.  Good-bye,  dear  friends,  I  have 
loved  you  much.  '  O  my  God,  may  thine  eye 

148 


SUCCEEDING  YEARS 

ever  watch  over  my  dear  parishioners,  thine  ear 
be  ever  open  to  hear  them,  and  thy  hand  be  ever 
stretched  out  to  protect  them.  I  commend  them 
to  thee,  and  put  them  in  thy  arms.  Send  them 
pastors  after  thine  own  heart  and  never  leave 
them/  " 


149 


PERSONALITY   AND   CHAR- 
ACTERISTICS 


X 

PERSONALITY    AND    CHARACTERISTICS 

THE  attainments  which  Oberlin  laid  in  his 
generous  course  of  university  studies 
proved  to  be  a  constant  investment  for 
usefulness  in  his  pastorate.  He  retained  to  old 
age  his  scholarly  tastes  and  habits.  In  a  certain 
degree  of  the  term,  Oberlin  was  a  scholar.  The 
diversity  of  his  knowledge,  however,  is  to  be  re- 
marked, rather  than  any  special  mastership  in 
particular  lines.  Intellectual,  loving  the  natural 
sciences,  history,  and  literature,  he  devoted  every 
hour  to  study  which  was  not  demanded  by  parisH 
duties  or  absorbed  by  his  family.  Much  of  his 
attention  was  given  to  the  physical  sciences  and 
their  application  and  uses.  He  was  fond  of 
mathematics.  He  had  no  special  inclination  to 
metaphysics,  but  he  kept  himself  in  his  reading 
alert  to  the  philosophies  of  his  day. 

As  a  preacher  in  the  examination  of  his  texts, 
he  invariably  went  to  the  original  tongues,  which 

153 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

were  his  best  commentaries.  When  some  one 
inquired  of  him  as  to  his  intellectual  preferences, 
with  his  characteristic  modesty  he  replied,  "  Je 
sais  un  peu  de  tout,  et  en  tout  rien,"  or  as  he 
once  wrote  it  in  Latin,  "  In  omnibus  aliquid,  et 
in  toto  nihil."  Certainly  a  life  like  his  forbade 
scholarship. 

His  writings,  mostly  local  and  ephemeral,  were 
such  as  would  naturally  be  struck  off  in  a  min- 
istry like  his.  While  his  sermons  were  for  the 
most  part  written,  they  were  adapted  to  the 
limited  education  and  conditions  of  his  peasant 
people.  At  the  same  time  they  show  no  lack  of 
respect  for  the  ability  on  their  part  to  receive 
vigorous  thought.  Many  of  the  sermons  have 
marks  of  the  originality  which  was  indicated 
in  many  ways  in  his  methods  of  developing 
the  people  of  the  district.  In  his  preaching  he 
studied  colloquial  plainness,  interspersing  his 
teachings  with  illustrations  from  every-day  life, 
which  might  seem  too  familiar  had  they  been 
addressed  to  a  more  cultivated  audience.  In 
general  he  committed  the  full  text  of  the  dis- 
course scrupulously  to  memory. 

He  was  wont  to  say  that  he  was  "  deficient  in 
memory,"  but  certainly  he  was  not  lacking  in 
that  mentality  which  is  the  foundation  of  all 

154 


PERSONALITY  AND  CHARACTERISTICS 

intellectual  operations.  He  was  not  one  of  those 
whose  acquisitive  powers  through  a  mechanical 
memory  are  remarkable  but  who  never  know 
what  to  do  with  what  has  been  acquired.  Think- 
ing out  his  conclusions  in  his  own  way,  he  did 
not  burden  himself  with  the  forms  of  others. 

The  dominant  tone  of  his  discourses  was  per- 
suasive and  tender.  This  is  especially  to  be  noted, 
as  he  was  living  in  the  days  when  "  the  terrors 
of  the  Lord"  were  common  in  religious  dis- 
course. When,  for  example,  Jonathan  Edwards 
in  this  country  was  preaching  his  terrific  sermon 
upon  the  "  sinner  in  the  hands  of  an  angry  God," 
Oberlin,  who  was  no  philosopher  like  Edwards, 
showed  his  prophetic  nature  in  anticipating  the 
thought  and  feeling  of  Christians  a  hundred  years 
later  in  the  emphasis  which  he  placed  on  God's 
own  definition  of  himself.  As  the  love  of  God 
was  the  inspiration  of  his  life,  so  it  was  the  cen- 
tral thought  in  his  preaching,  and  he  does  not 
appear  to  have  changed  the  theological  sentiments 
of  his  earlier  years  in  this  respect  in  his  later 
experience. 

At  the  death  of  his  father,  after  Oberlin  had 
been  three  years  a  pastor,  his  old  professor, 
Lorenz,  said  to  him :  "  My  dear  Oberlin,  your 
father's  death  must  pain  you  greatly  —  all  the 

155 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

more,  although  he  was  a  perfectly  honest  man 
—  since  there  is  no  hope  that  the  gates  of  heaven 
will  open  for  him;  for  he  was  not  among  those 
who  had  been  regenerated." 

Oberlin  at  once  replied  with  much  warmth, 
"  Mr.  Professor,  I  feel  very  easy  as  to  that,  for 
I  am  as  sure  that  my  excellent  father  is  in  heaven 
as  I  am  that  God  has  promised  to  all  who  be- 
lieve in  him  that  he  would  hear  their  prayer." 
Stuber,  with  whom  Madame  Rauscher,  Ober- 
lin's  daughter,  collaborated  in  writing  his  biog- 
raphy, adds,  "  The  dogma  of  eternal  pain  could 
never  have  been  received  by  the  loving  soul  of 
Oberlin."  When  this  doctrine  was  once  pro- 
posed in  his  presence,  as  related  by  an  intimate 
friend,  he  rejected  it  emphatically,  saying,  "  If 
God  would  eternally  damn  one  of  his  creatures, 
he  would  cease  to  be  God.  He  would  become 
a  devil."  ("  Si  Dieu  pouvait  damner  eternelle- 
ment  une  de  ses  creatures,  il  cesserait  d'etre 
Dieu;  il  devienderait  diable.")  It  should  be 
noted,  however,  that  we  have  no  writing  of 
Oberlin's  to  confirm  this. 

At  the  same  time  his  discourses  show  that  no 
loose  views  were  entertained  by  him  as  to  the 
nature  and  certainty  of  retribution.  Numerous 
passages  in  them  speak  of  the  inevitable  penal- 


PERSONALITY  AND  CHARACTERISTICS 

ties  of  sin  and  the  fearful  retributions  in  a  future 
life  for  those  who  remain  unreconciled  to  God. 
He  knew  that  the  fruitage  of  sin  is  not  the  same 
as  that  of  righteousness.  He  thoroughly  believed 
"  in  the  judgment  to  come." 

Akin  to  his  sense  of  the  love  and  grace  of 
God  was  his  remarkable  catholicity.  Stuber  calls 
it  "  tolerance,"  but  Oberlin  had  gone  quite  be- 
yond tolerating  those  whose  opinions  he  could 
not  accept.  Ardent  in  defending  his  own  con- 
victions and  in  presenting  them  to  others,  he  was 
great  enough  to  hold  fraternal  relations  with 
those  whose  faith  was  not  expressed  in  his  terms 
and  whose  education  had  led  them  to  different 
views. 

It  was  natural  at  that  period  for  Roman  Catho- 
lics and  Protestants  to  maintain  their  differences 
with  much  hostility.  Their  conflicts  were  recent; 
their  enmities  were  not  concealed.  Here  again 
the  prophet  anticipated  "  a  more  excellent  way." 
An  illustration  of  this  was  when  a  young  woman 
of  Schirmeck,  a  neighboring  village,  who  was  a 
Roman  Catholic,  had  married  a  Protestant  of  his 
own  parish.  This  relationship  was  exceptional 
and  aroused  the  animosity  of  the  young  husband's 
relatives,  especially  because  by  marriage  agree- 
ment the  children  were  to  be  brought  up  in  the 

157 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

religion  of  the  mother.  The  time  came  when  a 
little  daughter  was  to  be  baptized  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  priest  of  Schirmeck.  The  parents  were 
to  take  the  road  over  the  mountain  for  this  pur- 
pose, but  the  enemies  of  the  young  husband  de- 
termined to  prevent  this  baptism  and  made  plans 
to  waylay*  the  couple  at  a  particular  point  in  the 
road,  where  by  intimidation  and  violence,  if  neces- 
sary, they  would  compel  them  to  return.  The 
young  parents  heard  of  this  as  they  were  start- 
ing out,  and  in  their  trouble  went  to  Oberlin  for 
counsel.  He  immediately  offered  to  accompany 
them  for  protection.  On  arriving  at  the  spot  in 
the  forest  where  the  parties  had  arranged  an 
ambuscade,  Oberlin  knelt  down,  and  extending 
his  hands  over  the  young  people  exclaimed: 
"  Great  God,  thou  who  seest  wickedness  lying 
in  wait  and  plotting  mischief;  thou  seest  inno- 
cence in  alarm.  Avert  the  danger,  or  give  thy 
children  strength  to  meet  it."  At  this  moment 
several  men  who  had  concealed  themselves  in  a 
thicket  rushed  forward  with  threatening  shouts, 
but  Oberlin,  taking  the  infant  in  his  arms,  ad- 
vanced with  coolness  which  did  not  conceal  his 
indignation,  saying,  "  Here  is  the  infant  which 
has  done  you  so  much  injury,  which  disturbs  the 
peace  of  your  days,"  and  with  this  little  text  of 

158 


PERSONALITY  AND  CHARACTERISTICS 

a  baby  in  his  arms  he  showed  them  the  wicked- 
ness of  their  design  in  such  a  way  that  they 
realized  it  for  themselves,  and  begged  pardon 
both  of  their  pastor  and  the  young  man.  In  the 
forest  Oberlin  led  them  to  a  reconciliation,  sent 
the  married  couple  to  the  priest  at  Schirmeck, 
and  returned  with  the  men  who  had  been  sur- 
prised by  him  to  the  village.  When  they  reached 
it  he  said,  "  My  children,  remember  this  day  on 
the  mountain  if  you  wish  that  I  should  forget  it." 

To  a  Roman  Catholic  who  expressed  his  re- 
gret that  they  were  not  of  the  same  religion,  his 
reply  was :  "  If  you  are  a  Christian,  my  dear 
friend,  we  are  of  the  same  religion.  Let  us  fol- 
low the  law  given  by  the  Saviour ;  it  is  the  only 
true  law;  the  forms  and  ceremonies  added  by 
different  sects  are  of  little  importance/' 

The  Catholic  prefect  of  Strasburg  was  one  of 
his  intimate  friends.  Stoeber  says :  "  They  would 
converse  on  sacred  subjects  far  into  the  night, 
and  often  the  good  prefect  left  Oberlin's  study 
with  tears  in  his  eyes,  so  powerfully  had  the  con- 
ference affected  him."  A  Catholic  gentleman, 
M.  Merlin,  asked  Oberlin  if  he  believed  that 
heathen  who  lived  in  charity  were  saved.  "I 
have  no  doubt  of  it."  "  You  do  not  believe,  then, 
that  Socrates,  for  example,  is  doomed  to  eternal 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

misery?"  "What!"  exclaimed  Oberlin  with 
warmth,  "  that  good  man !  No.  I  believe  he 
has  a  seat  very  near  the  throne  of  God."  Meet- 
ing, one  day,  a  Catholic  citizen  who  told  him  that 
he  had  heard  of  his  preaching  against  the  Catho- 
lic religion,  Oberlin  opened  his  Bible,  and  turning 
to  the  epistles  of  Peter,  James,  and  John,  said, 
"  You  see  these  Catholic  Epistles  are  read  by  all 
our  people;  how  can  I  preach  against  a  religion 
that  is  Catholic?" 

Surrounded  by  a  mixed  population  of  Catholics 
and  Protestants,  he  felt  that  if  he  bore  the  name 
of  "  Evangelical  Catholic  "  it  would  represent  the 
fact,  and  was  less  likely  to  prevent  his  influence 
than  to  be  designated  by  the  narrower  name  of 
"  Protestant."  "  Our  faith  is  not  in  Luther,  but 
in  Jesus  Christ." 

A  portrait  of  Luther  hung  in  his  study.  To 
a  visitor  whose  attention  was  drawn  to  it  he  said: 
"  Luther  was  not  the  founder  of  a  new  religion ; 
he  only  brought  us  back  to  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ.  God  will  regard  all  who  adhere  to  the 
doctrines  of  his  divine  Son,  be  they  Catholics  or 
Lutherans." 

A  document  was  found  among  his  papers  con- 
taining a  full  statement  of  the  "  circumstances 
which  determined  me  to  call  myself  Evangelical 

1 60 


PERSONALITY  AND  CHARACTERISTICS 

Catholic  minister,  rather  than  a  minister  of  the 
Protestant  religion,"  in  which  he  says :  "  A  young 
Catholic  priest  has  told  some  one  that  if  the  other 
ministers  called  Protestants  were  as  truly  Catho- 
lic as  the  minister  of  Waldbach,  he  would  not 
hesitate  to  place  himself  on  their  side.  Thus  the 
hatred  and  repugnance  that  so  long  caused  us 
sorrows  of  every  kind  have  'little  by  little  given 
place  to  brotherly  love,  and  our  doctrines  are  seen 
to  be  those  of  the  true  Catholic  Church;  that  is 
to  say,  Christian ! "  As  a  fact,  Oberlin  did  suc- 
ceed in  reducing  the  antipathy  between  Protes- 
tants and  Catholics  throughout  his  district,  and 
came  to  be  venerated  by  both  priests  and  people. 

He  administered  the  sacraments  to  Catholics, 
Lutherans,  and  Calvinists  at  the  same  time,  and 
because  they  would  not  eat  the  same  bread,  he 
had  on  a  plate  bread  of  different  kinds,  —  wafers, 
leavened  and  unleavened. 

It  was  a  little  meeting-house  where  this  oc- 
curred, but  it  was  large  enough  to  welcome  John 
Calvin,  John  Wesley,  Luther,  and  Fenelon  to  the 
communion  table  had  they  appeared,  and  to  place 
them  in  the  same  fellowship  which  they  doubt- 
less now  enjoy. 

Nevertheless,  he  faithfully  defended  his  own 
position :  "  As  to  the  terms  Schismatics  and  Here- 
»  161 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

tics,  judge  ye  for  yourselves  which  merits  re- 
proach, —  we  who  practise  what  is  contained  in 
the  Catholic  Epistles  and  the  Gospels,  or  those 
who  will  not  allow  these  Scriptures  in  the  hands 
of  their  parishioners." 

The  conversation  between  an  English  traveler 
who  visited  Waldbach  and  the  driver  of  his  car- 
riage is  given  in  an  English  memoir: 

"  You  go  to  see  our  good  pastor,  Oberlin  ?  "  said 
the  driver. 

"  Yes.    Do  you  know  him  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  know  him  very  well.  I  often  go  to 
hear  him  preach." 

"  But  you  are  a  Catholic,  are  you  not  ?  " 

"  Yes,  we  are  all  Catholics  at  Schirmeck,  but  that 
does  not  prevent  us  from  going  to  hear  the  good  pastor 
at  Waldbach." 

"  Do  you  like  his  preaching?  " 

"  Indeed  I  do !  He  often  brings  tears  to  our  eyes. 
He  is  a  man  who  tries  to  serve  us  in  all  possible 
ways." 

"  Tell  me  what  he  has  done." 

"  Done !  Everything  that  could  be  done.  There 
are  so  many  things!  Let  me  see;  first,  he  made  this 
road  for  us." 

"  That  is  not  much  to  boast  of." 

"  That  may  be,  but  look  you,  sir,  not  many  years 
ago  we  could  not  pass  here  even  with  a  little  carriage 
like  this.  The  pastor  planned  all  this  road  and  worked 

162 


PERSONALITY  AND  CHARACTERISTICS 

on  it  himself  to  encourage  others,  and  that  little  bridge 
we  are  coming  to,  he  made  that  also." 

"  He  must  be  rich  to  do  so  many  things ! " 

"  You  may  say  he  is  rich,  but  he  is  not  rich." 

"How  so?" 

"  If  he  kept  all  he  gives  away  he  would  be  rich,  but 
he  keeps  nothing  for  himself;  he  gives  away  every- 
thing. You  will  see  his  house.  You  will  not  find  it  a 
palace." 

Another  incident  is  characteristic  of  his  broad 
sympathies.  One  day  while  working  in  his  study 
he  heard  a  great  noise  in  the  village. 

Looking  out  where  the  tumult  was,  he  saw  a 
stranger,  who  proved  to  be  a  Jewish  pedler  whom 
almost  the  whole  population  was  loading  with 
threats  and  abuse.  Oberlin  made  his  way  at 
once  through  the  mob  while  every  one  was  cry- 
ing, "A  Jew!  A  Jew!" 

Putting  himself  beside  the  persecuted  man  and 
making  himself  heard,  he  reproached  the  people 
as  not  worthy  of  the  name  of  Christians  who 
could  persecute  a  poor  man  for  not  being  one; 
then,  placing  the  package  of  goods  upon  his  own 
shoulders  and  taking  the  man  by  the  hand,  he 
led  him  into  the  parsonage  away  from  their  in- 
sults and  made  him  his  guest. 

No  one  could  abhor  the  teachings  of  Rousseau 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

or  Voltaire  with  more  intensity  than  Oberlin,  but 
on  a  certain  occasion,  when  he  had  been  speaking 
vehemently  of  them,  his  friend  Stoeber  ventured 
to  say  that  Rousseau  had  denounced  certain  sins 
against  the  family  on  the  part  of  French  women 
and  that  Voltaire  had  defended  victims  of 
oppression  and  cruelty.  Oberlin's  expression 
changed  instantly,  and  his  comment  was,  "  Ah ! 
les  chers !  "  He  did  not  think  any  better  of  their 
doctrines,  but  he  could  appreciate  whatever  was 
good  in  their  conduct. 

His  tendency  to  abstract  and  speculative  re- 
searches found  a  fine  balance  in  an  uncommon, 
practical  cast  of  mind.  While  his  thoughts  per- 
petually traveled  towards  the  unseen  and  sought 
to  get  beyond  the  barriers  which  separate  the 
other  world  from  this  one,  he  never  slackened 
his  hold  of  the  details  of  daily  interest  or  duty. 
While  he  persuaded  himself  of  the  certainty  of 
continued  influence  on  the  part  of  the  spirits  of 
the  departed  upon  their  loved  ones  on  earth,  his 
mind  lost  no  attentiveness  to  the  passing  events 
of  his  little  hamlets,  nor  yet  to  those  of  the  wider 
world.  He  used  frequently  to  speak  of  the  con- 
scious and  uninterrupted  affection  of  his  deceased 
wife  toward  him,  and  was  sure  that  in  his  dreams 
and  visions  of  the  night  she  advised  him,  en- 

164 


PERSONALITY  AND  CHARACTERISTICS 

couraged  him  in  his  work,  and  gave  him  most 
positive  assurance  of  the  interest  of  the  other 
world  in  this  one. 

When  asked  how  he  could  distinguish  these 
visions  and  tidings  from  ordinary  dreams,  his 
reply  was,  "  How  do  you  distinguish  one  color 
from  another  ?  "  His  manuscript  books  abound 
in  details  of  these  dreams  which  he  interpreted. 
Naturally  his  mind  inclined  to  clairvoyance,  and 
he  took  great  pleasure  in  the  phenomena  of  what 
was  then  called  "  animal  magnetism."  He  be- 
came a  great  friend  of  his  contemporary,  the 
Swiss  mystic,  Lavater,  was  in  frequent  and 
familiar  correspondence  with  him,  and  sympa- 
thized with  many  of  his  eccentric  views  of  physi- 
ognomy as  a  science. 

He  thought  that  he  could  judge  the  character 
from  the  features,  and  even  from  the  mere  out- 
line, from  the  profile  silhouettes,  which  were  then 
common.  He  made  in  this  study  a  large  collec- 
tion of  profiles  and  taught  the  children  in  their 
drawing  classes  to  make  them.  He  also  believed 
that  he  could  detect  qualities  good  or  bad  from 
the  preference  in  colors. 

We  are  not  surprised  to  find  that  his  interest 
in  the  reality  of  the  communion  which  he  him- 
self had  with  his  departed  wife  led  him  to  the 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

study  of  Swedenborg's  works,  which  had  been 
recommended  to  him  by  his  friend,  the  German 
mystic  and  author,  Dr.  Jung  Stilling,  an  intimate 
friend  also  of  Goethe.  He  certainly  found  much 
of  suggestiveness  in  the  analogies  of  Sweden- 
borg  and  in  the  correspondences  between  natural 
and  spiritual  things.  A  chart  or  celestial  dia- 
gram of  Solomon's  Temple  as  representing  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  still  to  be  seen  in  the  Wald- 
bach  parsonage,  in  which  he  endeavored  to  make 
clear  the  fact  that  the  future  life  would  depend 
upon  the  character  formed  in  the  life  of  the  body, 
the  innermost  mansions  of  the  temple  being  of 
those  who  had  been  most  devoted  to  the  service 
of  others.  His  biographer,  Stoeber,  remarks  upon 
Oberlin's  belief  in  the  influence  of  spirits  on 
earthly  life,  saying :  "  We  are  far  from  wishing 
to  favor  superstition,  but  to  say  a  thing  is  not 
because  we  ourselves  have  not  known  it ;  to  deny 
what  another  has  seen  himself  because  we  our- 
selves have  not  seen  it;  to  deny  what  another 
has  seen  and  felt  because  we  have  not  seen  or 
felt  as  he  has  —  this  does  not  seem  sound  reason- 
ing." However  we  may  regard  these  fancies, 
if  we  choose  to  call  them  such,  of  this  uncommon 
man,  in  everything  that  had  to  do  with  earthly 
life  there  was  no  lack  of  sound,  hard,  practical 

1 66 


PERSONALITY  AND  CHARACTERISTICS 

common  sense.  His  heavenly  visions  in  no  way 
injured  his  earthly  eyesight.  His  eccentricities, 
if  they  are  so  judged,  were  all  on  the  side  of 
righteousness ;  and  for  the  comfort  of  those  who 
may  think  that  his  spirit  of  liberality  was  carried 
to  a  great  length,  it  may  be  said  that  his  dis- 
courses give  no  hint  of  eccentricities  and  show 
him  to  have  been  as  evangelical  as  the  New 
Testament.  His  standing  as  a  Lutheran  pastor 
was  never  questioned. 

By  the  side  of  this  characteristic,  loving  qual- 
ity was  his  keen  sense  of  justice,  which  is  par- 
ticularly marked  by  his  course  in  the  treatment 
of  the  French  assignats.  The  heavy  expenses  of 
the  revolutionary  government  had  been  met  by 
the  issue  of  a  small  paper  currency  called  assig- 
nats, which  from  the  vast  amount  and  doubtful 
security  came  to  be  passed  for  much  less  than 
their  nominal  value.  Oberlin  felt  that  the  nation 
was  dishonest  in  not  keeping  its  promises,  and  that 
the  scaling  down  of  the  notes  was,  in  so  far,  a 
personal  repudiation.  He  prepared  a  circular  in 
opposition  to  this  depreciation,  saying:  "These 
notes  are  obligations  of  the  nation  to  which  it 
has  pledged  its  faith;  to  receive  them  at  less 
than  their  face  value  is  to  assail  the  good  faith 
of  the  nation,  and  true  patriots  will  not  allow 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

themselves  to  be  accomplices  in  this  depreciation." 
He  proved  his  consistency  by  receiving,  in  his 
parishes,  the  notes  to  their  full  value,  and  recom- 
mended that  every  one  who  held  one  of  them 
should  submit  to  a  discount  of  two  per  cent  and 
indorse  this  on  paper  in  each  transaction,  so  that 
in  time  the  note  would  be  canceled  and  the  debt 
discharged.  Among  his  own  papers  was  found 
one  of  these  notes  indorsed  in  his  handwriting, 
"  Thus,  thanks  to  God,  my  country  is  honestly 
released  from  this  obligation."  He  bought  up 
all  the  assignats  which  had  been  brought  into 
the  Ban-de-la-Roche  and  made  the  depreciation 
good.  A  comment  has  been  made  upon  this  which 
styles  it  "  a  freak  of  conscience  and  a  curious 
exhibition  of  patriotism,"  but  the  protest  against 
dishonor  in  behalf  of  individual  responsibility  of 
the  citizens  was  not  lost.  This  sense  of  patriotic 
justice,  however  quixotic  it  seemed  to  many,  was 
recognized  in  the  minutes  of  the  national  con- 
vention of  France  in  its  "  Sixteenth  Fructidor  " 
and  placed  upon  its  records.  During  twenty  years 
he  succeeded  in  canceling  no  less  a  sum  than 
78,625  francs,  and  this  in  one  of  the  poorest  dis- 
tricts of  the  nation. 

This  sensitive  ethical  sense  revealed  itself  also 
in  his  testimony  against  human  slavery.     He 

1 68 


PERSONALITY  AND  CHARACTERISTICS 

would  not  use  sugar  in  his  household,  "  for  every 
granule  of  it  is  tainted  with  the  blood  of  the 
unhappy  slave."  He  would  not  use  coffee;  no 
article  wrung  out  of  involuntary  servitude  would 
he  touch.  •  The  substitute  was  roasted  barley, 
which  was  sweetened  with  honey.  This  protest 
against  a  public  iniquity  has  likewise  been  criti- 
cized as  a  useless  exhibition  of  a  mistaken  con- 
science, in  that  whatever  one  man  might  do  on 
the  mountains  an  ocean  and  a  half  continent 
away  from  slavery  could  not  affect  the  question 
either  way.  It  was  not,  however,  useless  testi- 
mony. At  a  time  when  devoted  ministers  of  the 
gospel  in  our  own  land  were  diligently  estab- 
lishing the  divine  foundations  of  the  institution 
of  slavery  by  the  Scriptures,  he  was  manufac- 
turing moral  ozone  for  the  convictions  of  a  people 
not  yet  born,  which  got  wafted  across  the  sea 
in  due  season  without  losing  its  strength. 

We  do  not  know  how  he  applied  his  ethics  so 
that  the  same  ostracism,  with  a  refreshing  incon- 
sistency, failed  to  include  tobacco.  The  snuff- 
box, which  was  a  great  comfort  to  him,  had  a 
special  dispensation.  When,  however,  his  regard 
for  it  became  overmasterful,  the  good  man  re- 
belled, with  a  harangue  which  it  is  to  be  feared 
had  frequent  repetition :  "  Ah,  you  wish  to  com- 

169 


JOHN   FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

mand  me,  to  make  me  a  slave!  I  will  show 
you  which  of  us  is  master  and  which  is  to  obey. 
Go  to  prison,  my  lady,"  upon  which  he  locked 
up  and  banished  to  a  different  floor  his  too- 
assertive  friend,  thus  making  necessary  a  special 
trip  with  much  inconvenience  when  the  desire 
became  urgent. 

One  of  the  happiest  days  of  his  life  was  when 
he  had  succeeded  in  putting  an  end  to  a  litigation 
carried  on  between  the  inhabitants  of  Ban-de-la- 
Roche  and  the  former  lords  of  the  district  with 
regard  to  the  right  of  the  forest  which  covered 
a  great  part  of  the  mountains.  The  contest  began 
before  the  French  Revolution  and  had  survived 
it.  Oberlin  took  every  opportunity  to  induce  the 
people  to  consent  to  an  amicable  arrangement, 
even  at  the  expense  of  a  voluntary  sacrifice  on 
their  part  of  some  of  their  rights,  rather  than 
prolong  a  lawsuit  which  would  be  ruinous  even 
should  they  finally  get  the  case.  During  many 
years  he  had  a  motto  affixed  to  one  of  the  doors, 
"  O  God,  have  mercy  on  Steinthal  and  put  an 
end  to  the  lawsuit." 

Sermon  followed  sermon  on  the  "  Duty  of 
Peace"  with  the  purpose  to  secure  the  consent 
of  the  people  to  a  compromise,  no  easy  matter 
to  effect  with  either  party.  An  agreement  was 

170 


PERSONALITY  AND  CHARACTERISTICS 

at  last  brought  about  which  closed  the  disputes 
of  more  than  three-quarters  of  a  century.  The 
prefect  of  the  lower  Rhine  was  so  gratified  at 
the  result  that  he  suggested  to  the  mayors  in 
deputation  when  the  deed  was  signed,  "  The  pen 
used  should  be  presented  to  the  pastor,  to  be 
suspended  in  his  study  as  a  trophy  of  a  victory 
which  he  had  gained  over  animosities  and  bad 
passions." 

Oberlin's  conscience  went  into  the  minutest 
details  of  life.  Excessively  scrupulous  as  to  the 
employment  of  time,  he  held  himself  to  strictest 
punctuality  in  every  engagement.  He  felt  it  to 
be  an  almost  unpardonable  transgression  for  one 
to  demand  that  he  should  use  his  time  profitlessly, 
and  he  carried  this  so  far  as  to  condemn  careless 
handwriting.  "  What  right  has  a  correspondent 
to  use  my  time  by  compelling  me  to  study  out 
what  should  be  plain  ?  "  He  considered  that  if  it 
was  a  lack  of  respect  for  one  to  present  himself 
to  another  in  a  negligent  or  shiftless  form,  much 
more  should  the  clothing  of  one's  mind  be  seemly 
in  appearance.  What  he  required  of  others  he 
required  of  himself. 

Not  a  blot  is  to  be  found  on  his  many  manu- 
scripts; every  word  is  distinct,  clear,  neat,  and 
legible.  Each  noun  was  written  with  a  capi- 

171 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

tal  letter,  and  each  word  without  abbreviation 
had  its  full  value.  If  this  extreme  care  is  to  be 
counted  among  his  eccentricities,  it  was  like  most 
other  marks  of  his  peculiar  personality  —  one 
which  it  might  be  useful  for  many  of  us  to 
imitate. 

In  his  old  age,  as  his  name  had  become  more 
widely  known,  the  natural  curiosity  of  those  who 
were  interested  in  him  and  in  his  work  found 
expression  in  their  letters  to  him.  To  one  who 
in  1820  asked  for  his  profile  and  for  something 
about  himself,  he  cut  one  and  wrote  the  follow- 
ing description  of  his  character: 

I  am  a  strange  compound  of  contradictory  quali- 
ties. I  do  not  exactly  know  what  I  am  to  make  of 
myself.  I  am  intelligent,  and  yet  I  am  possessed  of 
very  limited  powers.  I  am  more  given  to  tact  and 
prudence  than  most  of  my  colleagues,  and  yet  I  am 
very  apt  to  blunder.  I  am  firm  and  decided,  but  I  can 
yield  to  others  without  trouble.  I  think  myself  daring 
and  actually  courageous  in  necessity,  but  at  the  same 
time  I  am  perhaps  secretly  a  coward.  I  am  very  frank, 
but  also  complaisant  to  men,  therefore  not  absolutely 
sincere.  I  am  both  French  and  German,  disposed  to 
be  noble,  generous,  obliging,  faithful,  grateful,  and 
affected  by  the  least  evidence  of  kindness,  yet  I  am 
indifferent  and  careless. 

I  am  also  extremely  irritable.  They  who  are  kind 
172 


PERSONALITY  AND  CHARACTERISTICS 

to  me  have  much  influence  with  me,  but  contradiction 
makes  me  stubborn,  especially  in  matters  of  conscience. 
I  have  a  vivid  imagination  but  little  memory,  properly 
speaking.  The  histories  that  I  have  taken  pains  to 
impress  on  my  mind  remain  with  me,  but  dates  and 
names  of  persons  I  often  forget  the  next  day.  I  am 
so  sensitive  that  often  I  cannot  express  the  feelings 
which  oppress  me  and, pain  me.  I  am  always  busy 
and  industrious ;  I  also  like  indolence.  I  am  generally 
quick  in  resolving  and  equally  so  in  executing.  I 
admire  music,  painting,  and  poetry,  but  have  no  gifts 
in  these  arts.  Mechanics  and  natural  history  are  my 
favorite  studies.  I  am  a  devotee  of  regularity.  I  am 
a  soldier  by  instinct,  but  was  more  so  in  feeling  before 
my  physical  strength  was  weakened.  I  have  always 
striven  to  be  first  in  danger  and  to  be  firm  in  pain. 
The  military  discipline  pleases  me  because  it  forces 
the  coward  to  show  courage  and  the  disorderly  man  to 
be  punctual. 

I  love  humor  and  have  a  sarcastic  turn  of  mind,  but 
without  intentional  ill  feeling.  Since  my  childhood 
I  have  aspired  to  a  life  higher  than  that  of  the  world." 

In  another  paper,  writing  of  his  joy  in  restor- 
ing one  who  in  asphyxia  was  supposed  to  be  dead, 
he  said :  "  I  had  need  to  use  all  my  authority  to 
get  myself  obeyed.  I  pretended  anger,  I  stamped 
my  foot,  I  shouted  like  a  sailor,  I  scolded  those 
who  stood  weeping,  I  threatened  to  beat  every- 
body if  they  did  not  keep  quiet  and  help  me." 

173 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

If  the  first  person  singular  seems  somewhat 
glorified  in  these  quotations,  it  may  be  said  that  in 
this  instance  it  was  not  the  self-eulogy  of  a  man 
who  could  be  accused  of  conceit;  it  was  rather 
where  a  man  above  eighty  years  of  age,  in  a 
confiding  and  ingenuous  mood,  looked  at  himself 
and  thought  aloud  what,  if  he  had  been  an  egoist, 
he  would  not  have  said.  Doubtless  every  parish- 
ioner would  have  demurred  at  almost  every  ex- 
pression of  his  demerits,  and  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  there  was  not  one  who  knew  him  who  did 
not  think  more  highly  of  the  pastor  than  he  did 
himself. 

During  the  time  of  the  "  Terror,"  Augustin 
Perier,  brother  of  the  prime  minister,  Casimir 
Perier,  in  his  capacity  of  deputy,  visited  Ban-de- 
la-Roche.  In  his  diary  he  mentions  Oberlin :  "  I 
have  never  yet  found  a  man  with  a  more  frank, 
amiable,  and  friendly  manner;  his  conversation 
is  easy,  with  much  color  and  illustration,  but 
always  suited  to  the  person  to  whom  he  speaks." 

An  English  writer  who  met  him  after  he  was 
eighty  years  of  age  described  him :  "  Oberlin  is 
a  handsome  man  of  medium  height  and  remark- 
ably dignified  appearance.  He  wears  a  black  hat 
and  a  long  frock-coat  adorned  with  the  ribbon 
of  '  The  Legion  of  Honor/  His  manner  is  grave 

174 


PERSONALITY  AND  CHARACTERISTICS 

but  extremely  affectionate  and  gentlemanly.  His 
courtesy  toward  his  parishioners  is  constantly 
manifested;  he  never  passes  in  front  of  them 
without  taking  off  his  hat  and  saying  a  few  affec- 
tionate words.  When  he  meets  children,  he  takes 
them  by  the  hand  and  shows  his  good-will  by 
little  thoughtful  attentions." 

Still  another  visitor  adds :  "  Oberlin's  personal 
manners  were  admirable.  Kind  and  familiar  with 
all  his  villagers,  he  preserved  a  dignity  which 
commanded  respect,  universal  and  filial.  He  was 
careful  to  set  an  example  which  should  not  be 
liable  to  misconstruction  or  appear  to  be  opposed 
to  his  precepts.  In  this,  as  in  every  other  matter, 
he  was  to  the  last  degree  scrupulous.  On  one 
occasion,  as  together  we  were  walking  up  a  hill, 
he  had  the  arm  of  his  son-in-law,  whilst  my  wife 
was  walking  by  herself  unattended.  Fearing  that 
this  might  be  considered .  self-indulgent  or  dis- 
respectful by  some  of  his  younger  parishioners 
whom  he  happened  to  pass  (though  he  was  then 
in  his  eightieth  year),  he  stopped  to  make  apol- 
ogy for  his  apparent  disregard  of  the  law  of 
civility.  I  happened  one  day,  when  we  were 
driven  by  a  man  who  seemed  to  go  in  a  hazard- 
ous manner,  to  say,  '  Take  care ! '  The  pastor 
appeared  hurt  at  this  admonition,  both  on  my 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

account  and  that  of  the  driver.  He  assured  me 
that  all  was  safe,  and  at  the  end  of  the  drive  took 
the  greatest  pains  to  prevent  any  feeling  which 
might  arise  in  the  mind  of  his  parishioner." 

Madame  de  Berckheim,  who  knew  him  when 
not  so  advanced  in  years,  left  her  record  as  she 
saw  him :  "  A  handsome  figure ;  his  bearing  erect ; 
his  eyes  have  an  expression  of  marvelous  insight. 
In  his  conversation  he  shows  a  lively  imagination. 
He  has  the  gift  of  repartee,  the  sudden  brilliant 
flashes  of  his  mind  which  charm  his  entourage. 
His  speech  is  marked  by  an  extraordinary  per- 
suasiveness in  intonation  and  choice  of  expres- 
sion. His  way  of  saying  things  is  unique.  The 
nobility  of  his  soul  shines  in  the  spirituality  of 
his  countenance." 

A  letter  written  by  an  English  lady  who  visited 
his  home  in  1820,  spending  some  days  at  the  par- 
sonage, gives  us  an  animated  description  of  the 
venerable  pastor  and  his  family: 

...  a  perfect  picture  of  what  an  old  man  and  a  minis- 
ter should  be.  He  received  us  cordially,  and  we  soon 
felt  quite  at  ease  with  him.  I  never  knew  so  well  what 
the  grace  of  courtesy  was  till  I  saw  this  remarkable  man. 
He  treats  the  poorest  people,  and  even  the  little  chil- 
dren, with  affectionate  respect.  For  instance,  his  kind- 
ness and  hospitality  to  our  postilion  were  quite  amus- 

176 


PERSONALITY  AND  CHARACTERISTICS 

ing.  He  pulled  his  hat  off  when  he  met  him,  took 
him  by  the  hand  and  treated  him  with  really  tender 
consideration.  He  is,  I  think,  more  than  eighty,  one 
of  the  handsomest  old  men  I  ever  remember  to  have 
seen,  still  vigorous  in  mind  and  spirit,  delighting  in 
his  parish,  full  of  fervent  charity.  He  shakes  hands 
with  the  children  when  he  meets  them  in  the  streets. 
The  effect  which  such  treatment  has  had  in  polishing 
these  people,  uncivilized  as  they  formerly  were,  is 
quite  wonderful.  The  state  of  the  schools,  the  chil- 
dren and  the  poor  in  general,  as  much  exceeds  our 
parish  as  ours  does  the  most  neglected.  The  meals 
in  his  home  are  really  amusing:  We  all  sit  down  to 
the  same  table,  maids  and  all.  At  our  supper  was  one 
great  dish  of  pottage,  or  boiled  spinach ;  a  quantity  of 
salad  and  potatoes,  on  which  they  chiefly  live,  being 
placed  in  the  middle.  The  luxury  of  a  common  Eng- 
lish cottage  is  not  known  in  Ban-de-la-Roche.  We 
breakfast  at  seven  —  the  family  upon  potatoes  boiled 
with  milk  and  water ;  a  little  coffee  is  provided  for  us. 
Everything  is  in  the  most  primitive  style.  The  poor 
charm  me.  I  have  never  met  with  any  like  them;  so 
much  humility,  spirituality,  and  with  manners  that 
would  do  honor  to  a  court. 

The  letter  continues: 

COLMAR,  Friday  Evening. 

Our  scene  is  again  quite  changed ;  we  have  returned 
to  the  common  world;  and  now  I  find  myself  over  a 
comfortable  fire  at  a  good  hotel  which  is  quite  a 

177 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

luxury  after  the  primitive  fare  of  the  Ban-de-la-Roche, 
where  we  found  but  little  indulgence  for  the  body, 
though  we  were  treated  with  genuine  hospitality. 

It  was  indeed  plain  living  and  high  thinking, 
but  these  simple  forms  of  life  made  the  man's 
achievements  possible. 

Perhaps  nothing  that  pertains  to  the  charac- 
teristics of  Oberlin  is  more  illuminating  than  his 
methods  of  benevolence.  Engrossed  as  he  was 
in  his  plans  for  his  own  villagers,  no  sooner 
had  he  heard  that  missionaries  had  gone  to  the 
heathen  in  foreign  lands,  than  he  gave  all  the 
silver  in  his  house  except  one  silver  spoon,  which 
afterwards  went  in  the  same  way. 

To  some  one  who  desired  to  know  how  he  could 
be  so  poor  and  yet  contribute,  not  only  to  the 
necessities  of  his  own  fields,  but  also  take  in  the 
missionary  work  of  foreign  lands,  he  said: 

You  ask  me  for  some  explanation.  I  will  tell  you 
how  I  manage:  I  devote  three  tithes  of  all  I  earn,  all 
that  I  receive,  and  all  my  revenue  of  whatever  name 
or  nature  it  may  be,  to  the  service  of  God.  For  this 
purpose  I  keep  three  boxes;  the  first  for  the  first 
tithe,  the  second  for  the  second,  and  the  third  box  for 
the  third.  When  I  cannot  pay  ready  money  all  at 
once,  I  mark  how  much  I  owe  upon  a  bit  of  paper 
which  I  put  into  the  box ;  and  when,  on  the  contrary, 

178 


PERSONALITY  AND  CHARACTERISTICS 

a  demand  occurs  which  ought  to  be  defrayed  by  one 
of  the  three  allotments,  and  there  is  not  sufficient 
money  deposited,  I  advance  the  sum  and  make  the  box 
my  debtor  by  marking  how  much  it  owes  me.  By  this 
means  I  am  always  able  to  assist  in  any  public  or  char- 
itable undertaking,  and  as  God  has  himself  declared 
that  "it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive,"  I 
look  upon  this  regular  disbursement  rather  in  the 
light  of  a  privilege  than  a  burden. 

The  first  of  the  above-mentioned  boxes  contains  a 
deposit  for  the  worship  of  God.  I  devote  the  contents 
of  this  box  to  the  building  and  repairing  of  churches 
and  schoolrooms,  the  support  of  the  teachers  for  the 
infant  schools,  and  the  purchases  of  Bibles;  in  short, 
to  anything  connected  with  divine  worship  or  the 
extension  of  our  Redeemer's  kingdom. 

My  parishioners  are  at  liberty  to  recall  from  this 
tithe  any  present  that  either  generosity  or  the  suppo- 
sition that  I  expected  it  may  have  induced  them  to 
make  me. 

The  second  box  contains  tithes  for  useful  purposes. 
I  employ  this  for  a  variety  of  purposes  —  for  the  im- 
provement of  roads  to  the  churches  and  schools,  for 
the  schoolmasters'  salaries,  for  all  works  of  public 
utility,  for  expenses  incurred  among  the  peasantry  of 
the  villages. 

The  third  box  contains  tithes  for  the  poor.  I  de- 
vote the  contents  of  this  box  to  the  service  of  the 
poor,  to  the  compensation  for  their  losses,  for 
wood,  flannel,  bread,  &c.,  for  those  who  stand  in 
need. 

179 


JOHN   FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

He  scrupulously  adhered  to  this  plan  and  often 
said  that  by  so  doing  he  abounded  "  in  wealth." 

Thus  faithful  in  little  things  as  in  large,  in  the 
dedication  of  himself  to  his  overmastering  pur- 
pose he  gathered  up  his  life  and  economies,  his 
studies,  his  gracious  words,  his  unfailing  prayers, 
and  his  daily  deeds  into  a  unity  of  devotion  to 
his  Lord  and  Master  and  to  his  fellow  men.  It 
would  have  been  a  poor  reward  for  the  passionate 
sacrifices  of  his  threescore  years  in  his  earnest 
devotion  to  others  to  have  secured  for  himself  a 
little  more  of  the  common  luxuries  of  life  or  to 
have  considered  the  comforts  which  appeal  to  most 
men.  His  great  purpose  filled  all  his  days  with 
a  boundless  joy,  poor  as  he  was  in  the  world's 
coin.  The  apostle  who  said,  "  This  one  thing  I 
do,"  never  felt  his  longing  desire  for  complete 
consecration  with  deeper  sincerity. 


1 80 


XI 

AFTERMATH 


XI 

AFTERMATH 

IT  would  be  a  vain  attempt  to  gather  up  the 
influences  of  such  a  life,  as  that  of  Oberlin. 
It  is  not  left  to  us,  however,  to  be  entirely 
ignorant  of  some  of  them. 

The  little  villages  to  which  he  gave  almost 
threescore  of  his  earnest  years  remain  as  wit- 
nesses to  the  local  permanence  of  his  power  after 
the  passing  of  more  than  a  century. 

It  is  an  easy  journey  by  railway  from  Stras- 
burg  to  Rothau,  the  first  of  the  outlying  parishes 
of  the  ancient  Ban-de-la-Roche.  It  now  numbers 
eighteen  hundred  people,  a  large  proportion  of 
whom  are  employed  in  four  factories.  One  of 
these  factories,  in  which  are  six  hundred  opera- 
tives making  cotton  goods,  is  under  the  manage- 
ment of  the  great-grandson  of  Oberlin.  An  ex- 
cellent public  school  building  for  a  graded  course 
of  instruction  provides  for  the  education  of  the 
children  and  youth.  A  large  Catholic  church, 

183 


JOHN  FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

which  stands  in  the  center  of  the  town,  called 
together  on  the  Lord's  Day  a  goodly  congrega- 
tion of  devout  worshipers  at  its  services.  A 
Protestant  church,  commodious  and  tasteful,  was 
likewise  filled  with  people  of  an  average  higher 
class,  and  the  service  in  the  French  language 
was  impressive.  The  discourse  of  the  minister, 
earnest  and  spiritual,  was  of  a  high  order,  both  in 
thought  and  expression,  and  was  received  with 
appreciative  attention. 

Life  for  the  most  part  in  Rothau  is  lowly,  but 
is  not  lacking  in  comfort  and  opportunity  for  ad- 
vancement where  the  qualities  exist  for  achieve- 
ment. Rothau,  though  quickened  in  its  life  by 
Oberlin's  opening  to  it  the  hill-country  with  good 
roads,  was  not  under  his  immediate  ministra- 
tions, and  we  shall  come  closer  to  him  in  the  five 
parishes  of  the  mountains. 

It  was  in  the  lovely  August  weather,  when  the 
air  was  balmy  with  the  fragrance  of  the  pine  and 
the  fir,  that  we  rode  among  the  hills  and  over 
them,  through  valleys  and  meadows,  with  forget- 
me-nots  and  bluebells  nodding  to  us  from  the 
roadsides,  while  the  birds  with  their  songs  wel- 
comed us  along  the  way.  Crossing  the  little 
bridge,  the  "Pont  de  la  Charite"  of  Oberlin's  con- 
struction, across  the  Bruche,  we  came  to  the  very 

184 


AFTERMATH 

ancient  village  of  Fouday.  It  has  quite  a  modern 
appearance  now,  chiefly  owing  to  the  factory 
which  Oberlin  introduced,  and  which  is  still  pros- 
pering. The  church  —  one  of  his  charge  —  re- 
mains as  he  left  it.  In  the  churchyard  is  the 
good  pastor's  grave,  tenderly  cared  for  to  this 
day  by  grateful  descendants  of  his  former  parish- 
ioners. The  rudeness  of  earlier  days  is  gone. 

Leaving  Fouday,  we  ascend  to  Oberlin's  manse, 
snuggled  in  the  little  village  of  Waldersbach,  as 
the  name  is  now  written.  Though  the  house  had 
not  changed  outwardly  since  a  visit  sixteen  years 
previous,  it  was  not  the  same  home  within.  The 
former  pastor,  whose  wife  is  a  granddaughter 
of  Oberlin,  had  removed  to  another  charge,  and 
with  the  departure  of  the  Oberlin  family,  the 
library  and  most  of  the  personal  possessions  of 
Oberlin  had  been  removed.  The  church  records 
of  the  different  parishes  and  interesting  aids  to 
local  history  remain  in  the  parish  house. 

Still  higher  up  on  the  mountain,  the  home  of  a 
government  forester  received  us.  A  little  dachs- 
hund barked  his  greetings,  and  the  good  woman 
who  presided  as  host  gave  us  in  Alsatian  French 
a  gracious  reception.  Forests  of  pine,  fir,  beech, 
and  birch  environed  us,  while  through  the  clear- 
ings wide  stretches  of  country  with  fascinating 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

beauty  added  to  the  glory  of  this  quaint  and  quiet 
place. 

It  was  from  this  point  of  departure  that  our 
excursions  were  made  in  the  Ban-de-la-Roche  as 
seen  to-day  in  the  light  of  its  history. 

What  did  we  find?  Certainly  nothing  which 
corresponds  to  conditions  related  by  Stuber  to 
Oberlin,  nor  those  which  the  young  missionary 
soon  realized  and  which  burdened  his  anxious 
heart.  In  certain  respects  it  made  no  tax  upon 
the  imagination  to  picture  the  ancestors  of  the 
people  as  they  were  a  hundred  years  ago.  The 
clap  of  the  sabots  through  the  village  streets  was 
the  same  as  greeted  the  ear  of  the  pastor  of  old 
time,  and  for  the  most  part  the  people  in  their 
daily  work-day  garb  had  not  lost  their  primitive 
appearance.  It  is  a  pleasant  country  still,  with 
peasant  customs  which  do  not  vary  greatly  from 
one  generation  to  another.  A  rural  people  liv- 
ing the  simple  life,  with  relatively  few  wants, 
they  yet  are  in  comfort  and  contentment.  Life 
is  plain,  but  the  interior  of  many  homes  showed 
appreciative  cultivation.  Excellent  prints  hung 
on  the  walls,  and  precious  souvenirs  of  Oberlin, 
which  were  the  work  of  his  own  hand  from  his 
individual  printing-press,  in  many  homes  were 
sacredly  cherished.  For  the  most  part  the  vil- 

186 


AFTERMATH 

lagers  appeared  to  be  exceptionally  intelligent, 
and  not  a  few  of  them  indicated  by  their  refine- 
ment of  speech  and  manner  that  the  influences 
of  the  past  are  still  active.  The  peasantry  live 
almost  entirely  by  agriculture,  the  women  in 
planting  and  harvest-time  sharing  the  work  with 
the  men.  It  is  the  impulsion  of  thrifty  industry 
more  than  want  that  encourages  them  to  do  this. 
The  houses  are  often  of  two  stories,  and  are 
evidently  a  great  improvement  upon  those  of 
their  ancestors.  Most  of  them  are  thatch-roofed, 
though  some  have  modern  roofs  of  red  tile.  All 
of  them  have  stoves  for  their  winter  season,  and 
wood  is  abundant.  There  is  comfort  within  when 
the  blasts  howl  without.  The  winters  have  not 
changed  their  severe  manners,  but  the  people 
now  know  how  to  meet  them  without  fear.  In 
the  summer-time  the  country  has  lost  none  of  the 
picturesqueness  which  was  so  attractive  to  the 
nature-loving  Oberlin.  The  description  of  the  dis- 
trict as  he  found  it,  "  wild,  rough,  and  barren," 
does  not  now  answer  to  its  character.  The  coun- 
try is"  neither  wild  nor  rough  nor  barren.  The 
countryside  has  shared  in  the  redemption  of  the 
people.  The  hillsides  and  valleys  are  rich  and 
fertile,  the  numerous  mountain  streams  which 
have  been  made  useful  by  the  complete  system 


JOHN  FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

of  irrigation  which  Oberlin  introduced  have 
clothed  the  landscape  with  smiling  fields  and 
pastures.  Every  available  foot  of  the  soil  is 
turned  to  account.  All  the  houses,  which  are  clus- 
tered compactly,  have  their  orchards  and  their 
flower-beds  of  asters,  gladioluses,  goldenrod,  and 
hollyhock,  though  each  in  small  compass. 

In  the  middle  of  September  the  farmers  were 
cutting  and  making  their  second  crop  of  hay, 
which  both  in  quantity  and  quality  indicated  the 
fertility  of  their  hills. 

The  little  schools  were  in  session,  like  the  New 
England  district  schools  in  our  sparsely  settled 
communities.  A  visit  in  Waldersbach  to  the  home 
of  the  sole  survivor  of  those  who  had  known 
Oberlin  personally,  introduced  us  to  an  aged  ma- 
tron of  eighty-eight  years,  as  alert  in  mind  as 
ever.  Though  seventy-six  years  had  passed  since 
Oberlin's  death,  when  she  was  twelve  years  of 
age,  she  gave  a  vivid  description  of  his  personal 
appearance  and  habits  when,  as  a  girl,  she  had 
seen  him  "  nearly  every  day  coming  and  going." 
"  He  was  often  at  our  school,  superintending  it 
personally,  and  always  talked  with  the  children." 
The  manse  or  parsonage  is  now,  as  it  was  then, 
the  center  of  the  village  life.  The  village  library 
is  here,  and  here  also  assembles  the  Young  Men's 

188 


AFTERMATH 

Christian  'Association.  On  the  Lord's  Day,  as 
guests  of  the  pastor,  we  attended  the  church. 
After  Oberlin's  habit,  he  had  early  gone  on  foot 
some  miles  away  upon  the  mountainside  to  a 
neighboring  village  to  preach.  He  returned  at 
eleven  o'clock  as  the  church  bell  rang  for  the 
Waldersbach  service,  the  perspiration  standing 
in  beads  upon  his  forehead  as  he  came  in.  Here, 
as  in  Rothau,  the  service  was  in  the  French  lan- 
guage, by  a  pastor  of  education  and  culture.  Evi- 
dently the  people  were  receiving,  as  in  the  past, 
the  ministry  of  exceptional  ability  and  culture. 
The  congregation  sang  hymns  well,  as  congre- 
gations should.  The  pastor  read  the  story  of 
Daniel,  the  reading  being  followed  by  a  second 
hymn,  and  this  by  prayer. 

The  sermon,  from  the  far-aloft  pulpit,  typify- 
ing, doubtless,  in  the  distance  above  the  pews,  the 
elevation  of  the  sacred  office,  was  as  carefully 
prepared  as  if  it  were  to  be  preached  to  a  col- 
lege audience,  and  indicated  not  only  the  intellec- 
tual gifts  of  the  preacher  but  also  his  appreciative 
sense  of  the  mental  qualities  of  his  hearers.  The 
subject,  for  example,  "  Daniel  in  Babylon,"  was 
in  reality  a  plea  for  "  the  simple  life."  This 
would  appear  to  have  been  scarcely  needed  in 
that  locality,  and  yet  there  were  not  many  of  his 

189 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

hearers  on  that  day  who  failed  to  demit  the  usual 
daily  costume  of  the  Ban  in  favor  of  the  modes 
of  Paris.  There  were  no  sabots  in  the  house  of 
the  Lord;  all  had  attained  unto  leather.  The 
life  of  the  prophet  in  the  great  and  brilliant  city 
of  Babylon  was  contrasted  by  the  preacher  with 
the  primitive  conditions  from  which  Daniel  had 
come.  The  peculiar  temptations  of  a  more  com- 
plex and  strenuous  life  in  cities  were  pointed  out, 
to  the  end  that  his  people  should  rather  be  con- 
tent with  their  homes  and  homely  duties  than 
to  be  anxious  for  those  of  a  more  difficult  and 
more  trying  character. 

The  service  closed  with  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
when  the  church  bell  was  rung  for  the  people 
who  were  not  present  to  pause  and  bow  their 
heads  in  reverence,  as  in  the  "  Angelus."  So  on 
every  Lord's  Day  in  these  mountain  hamlets  the 
congregations  trained  in  the  schools  which  Ober- 
lin  planted  are  gathered  to  worship  Him  whom 
Oberlin  brought  in  his  life  and  preaching  to  their 
ancestors. 

The  influences  of  Oberlin's  missionary  life  are 
still  visible  in  all  the  district  to  which  he  gave  his 
singularly  devoted  ministry.  Generations  have 
gone,  but  the  work  which  abides  testifies  to  the 
wise  investment  of  his  powers. 

190 


AFTERMATH 

We  are  not  to  look,  however,  to  this  little  local- 
ity for  the  full  justification  of  this  notable  serv- 
ice. Especially  significant  for  a  missionary  in  an 
age  of  individualism  is  the  legacy  of  his  theory 
of  social  regeneration.  His  missionary  ideas  were 
quite  at  variance  with  those  then  current,  and, 
though  this  was  a  century  ago,  his  applications 
of  them,  even  in  that  limited  sphere,  are  such  as 
appeal,  at  the  present  time,  to  the  most  thought- 
ful students  of  social  service.  We  are  living  when 
attention  is  directed,  with  an  emphasis  that  must 
be  heard,  to  the  duties  and  obligations  that  arise 
in  the  complex  relations  of  life.  We  are  led  to 
the  frequent  inquiry  in  the  conflicting  claims  and 
cries  of  sociological  reforms  to  ask  what,  after 
all,  is  the  theory  of  life  for  man  in  his  com- 
munity relations?  Dreamers  of  all  sorts  clamor 
in  behalf  of  their  visions.  A  sentimental  school, 
dangerous  and  destructive  inasmuch  as  it  pos- 
sesses sufficient  truth  to  appeal  to  half-truth 
people,  vociferously  promises  a  social  millennium. 
Truth  abused  becomes  pernicious  error.  Oberlin 
speaks  here,  with  a  voice  that  has  not  lost  its 
strength,  to  keep  us  true  to  the  only  principles 
of  a  social  regeneration  and  a  social  progress 
which  will  bear  the  test  of  time.  The  theories 
apprehended  and  practised  by  him  quite  antici- 

191 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

pated  modern  sociological  science  in  its  appeal 
to  social  conditions  and  relations.  He  realized 
with  a  wonderful  prophecy  the  fact  that  man  is 
more  than  man;  that  he  has  relations  to  human 
life  and  its  conditions ;  that  he  is  a  brother  man 
who  has  to  do  with  organized  community  life. 
Because  the  children  and  youth  would  soon  be 
the  ruling  factors  in  bringing  about  a  better  en- 
vironment, Oberlin  began  the  working  out  of  his 
sociological  scheme  with  his  well-considered  and 
permanent  provisions  for  education  as  the  foun- 
dation of  true  social  science.  The  industrial  fea- 
tures, which  included  instruction  in  agriculture 
and  the  care  of  trees  and  fruits  with  the  manual 
training  and  the  teaching  of  trades,  the  inter- 
change of  varied  employments,  and  the  increase 
of  the  comforts  of  life,  were  another  step  to  pro- 
vide a  healthy  social  relationship.  Then,  by  the 
insistence  upon  good  roads,  came  the  opening  of 
the  channels  of  commerce,  that  the  people  might 
reap  the  fruits  of  their  new  industries.  With  this 
were  the  constant  lessons  in  self-government ;  the 
principles  of  liberty  as  distinct  from  socialism  and 
anarchy;  and  the  teachings  of  the  obligations  of 
justice  in  their  corporate  relations,  that  the  people 
might  remember  that  they  were  members  one 
of  another.  Thus  Oberlin  left  on  record  for  us 

192 


AFTERMATH 

his  conviction  that  all  hopes  for  the  betterment 
of  the  social  state  must  rest  in  a  true  theory  of 
life,  that  the  permanent  adjustment  of  human 
relations,  and  the  only  cure  for  the  evils  which 
afflict  mankind,  must  be  upon  the  basis  of  Chris- 
tianity. He  saw  in  his  day,  as  clearly  as  we  can 
see  in  ours,  that  the  Supreme  Teacher  of  the 
meaning  and  the  duties  of  life  in  every  relation 
of  man  to  man  is  the  one  to  whom  we  must  look 
for  the  principles  of  ideal  society  with  any  surety 
of  justice  and  human  rights.  Social  problems 
that  are  full  of  sorrow  and  pain  will  find  their 
only  solution  when  He  who  is  the  chiefest  person 
in  all  history  has  proved  his  mastery  by  the  in- 
fluences which  he  has  set  in  motion,  and  when 
he  rules  in  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  men. 
So  far  the  world's  best  civilization,  imperfect 
and  partial  as  it  may  be,  is  that  which  bears  the 
name  of  Christ.  Oberlin  taught  that  there  is  a 
Christian  doctrine  of  the  family  and  of  its  related 
life,  as  there  is  a  Christian  doctrine  of  marriage ; 
that  there  is  a  Christian  doctrine  of  property  and 
stewardship;  that  there  is  a  Christian  doctrine 
of  industrialism  and  the  relationships  of  those 
who  are  engaged  in  it;  that  there  is  a  Christian 
principle  that  reaches  every  form  of  social  re- 
lation and  effort;  and  that  as  experiments  depart 
13  193 


JOHN  FREDERIC  OBERLIN 

from  these  teachings  and  principles  to  meet  the 
conditions  of  society  or  to  reform  the  ills  of  life 
arising  from  its  complex  relations,  they  lose  the 
strength  of  truth.  Oberlin  was  right  in  this  a 
hundred  years  ago.  When  people  apply  other 
principles,  with  whatever  sincerity,  they  become 
foes  of  order,  of  human  rights  and  social  good. 
If  sociology  founded  upon  the  teachings  of  Christ 
is  not  sufficient  to  secure  the  noblest  ideals  and 
the  highest  order  of  social  as  well  as  of  individual 
life,  then  no  motives  or  methods  which  a  lesser 
wisdom  may  devise  will  be  adequate  to  meet  the 
nature  and  the  wants  of  men.  Oberlin  insisted 
upon  this  with  emphasis.  In  an  age  which  has 
developed  antagonism  and  hostilities  between 
classes,  his  legacy  to  those  who  will  receive  it  is 
a  prophet's  wisdom  to  say  that  only  as  the  ethics 
of  Jesus  Christ  are  applied  to  the  rectification  of 
community  wrongs  as  well  as  to  the  regeneration 
of  the  individual  can  the  conditions  be  met  which 
insure  a  happy  peace  and  a  true  social  progress. 
The  New  Testament  was  sufficiently  plain  in  its 
principles  for  him,  and  they  appealed  to  his  wis- 
dom and  sense  of  righteousness.  They  taught 
him  what  he  taught  others  —  that  man  with  man 
is  a  brotherhood  which  when  recognized  makes 
for  unity  of  being  and  unity  of  aim.  He  was  con- 

194 


AFTERMATH 

stantly  saying  to  his  people :  "  Think  as  brethren, 
feel  as  brethren,  and  all  relations  that  you  owe  to 
the  community  and  the  community  owes  to  you 
will  be  adjusted.  All  enduring  social  welfare  must 
rest  in  Christian  principles  and  in  Christian 
practise." 

It  is  true  that  modern  industrialism  and  the 
complexity  of  the  corporate  life  of  the  present 
day  were  unknown  to  him.  It  is  also  true  that 
the  conditions  which  now  confront  this  age  did 
not  exist  when  the  great  Teacher  of  mankind 
came  and  lived  in  the  rural  obscurity  of  Galilee 
that  men  might  have  life  and  have  it  more  abun- 
dantly. The  principles,  however,  which  he  enun- 
ciated and  set  in  motion  have  proved  themselves 
to  be  the  impelling  forces  of  all  endeavors  that 
have  as  yet  made  for  human  welfare,  and  are 
the  only  guaranty  for  good  hopes  of  its  posses- 
sion. Oberlin  was  but  interpreting  his  Master 
in  his  theory  for  life  in  every  relation,  that  the 
brotherhood  of  man  is  the  fundamental  idea  of 
any  philosophy  of  social  good  that  will  meet 
and  subdue  the  inhuman  conditions  which  afflict 
society. 

This  is  Oberlin's  lesson  to  those  who  will  heed 
it.  With  this  faith  as  the  prophet  of  a  new  earth 
wherein  dwelleth  righteousness,  he  practised  the 

*95 


JOHN  FREDERIC   OBERLIN 

eternal  principles  of  social  regeneration  which 
yet  wait  for  their  better  comprehension  and 
acceptance. 

Though  he  wrought  in  obscurity,  like  his  Mas- 
ter, the  influence  of  his  spirit  and  example  has 
been  taken  to  many  a  mission  field  the  world  over 
by  those  whose  education  in  their  formative  years 
has  passed  under  the  traditions  and  sacred  influ- 
ence of  his  name,  which  Oberlin  College  wears, 
honors,  and  helps  to  make  immortal. 


196 


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